At The Ultimate Fighter 20 finale, Carla Esparza became the UFC’s first strawweight champion. Esparza, the former Invicta strawweight champion, wore down the fan-favorite Rose Namajunas with relentless wrestling before finishing her in Round 3.
The win over Namajunas extended Esparza‘s winning streak to five—eight if you count her wins over Angela Hill, Tecia Torres and Jessica Penne on The Ultimate Fighter—and gives her a stronger-than-ever claim as the top strawweight in women’s MMA.
Now, of course, she looks forward to her next opponent. But who could that be?
Winner of Claudia Gadelha vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
This, by a mile, is the most likely first opponent for Esparza. Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are a combined 19-0 in their professional careers and have demonstrated legit skills in their respective UFC debuts. Set to face off at UFC on Fox 13, whoever wins this fight will be a legitimate contender.
Gadelha was set to face Esparza twice prior, but she was forced to withdraw from a title bout at Invicta FC 4 due to a broken nose and again at Invicta FC 7 due to a bout with gastroenteritis. However, she remains among the division’s elite and would be a stiff test for Esparza.
On the other hand, Jedrzejczyk is relatively new to the American MMA scene, but her striking skills rank among the best in the division.
UFC President Dana White already expressed that Gadelha is a win away from a title shot, but he was not quite as vocal about her Polish opponent. We will have to see how things play out on Saturday.
Paige VanZant
The young Paige VanZant was something of an afterthought after she was not permitted entry into “The House” for this season of The Ultimate Fighter. She silenced all of her doubters, however, with an utterly dominant performance in her UFC debut against Kailin Curran.
VanZant is an entrant into this contest, in part, by default, given that she is one of the few fighters in the UFC women’s strawweight division that did not enter the promotion through The Ultimate Fighter. However, her performance against Curran pushes her into the discussion in earnest, as she ran at full speed for three rounds before scoring a TKO victory.
Granted, there is little cause to give VanZant a title fight ahead of Gadelha or Jedrzejczyk. Injuries do happen, however. And if the stars align, the UFC could do much worse than putting the 20-year-old in position to take the belt.
Jessica Aguilar
This is undeniably something of a dream match, but there is certainly cause for hope. Jessica Aguilar is the last woman to defeat Esparza, beating her at Bellator 46 in June of 2011. She is also undefeated since 2010. Unfortunately, while Esparza carved out a niche in Invicta, Aguilar has become one of the top names for World Series of Fighting.
With that said, it’s not unheard of for WSOF to send fighters over to the UFC. In fact, considering Andrei Arlovski, Anthony Johnson and Josh Burkman are all in the UFC these days, it feels like it is becoming the standard.
The UFC is angling for Mexican fighters, and Aguilar is the only option out there that can instantly be plugged into title contention. That makes her a commodity the UFC would be wise to pursue.
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