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MOORE: Breaking down the state of European fighters in the UFC (Part Eight - Women's Bantamweight & Strawweight)
Aug 24, 2015 - 2:35:34 PM MOORE: Breaking down the state of European fighters in the UFC (Part Eight - Women's Bantamweight & Strawweight)

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By: Dan Moore, MMATorch UK Columnist

A couple of years ago I wrote a series of articles for MMATorch covering every single European fighter on the UFC roster. As we know only too well, a lot can change in the MMA landscape, and it certainly has as far as who's still on the roster, and who isn't. Over the next few weeks I will take a look at who's on the roster in 2015 (division by division), and report on how they're all doing. I will also attempt to predict what outside talent may join them in the next year or two. In this final iteration I take a look at the UFC women's bantamweight and strawweight divisions: (Check out part one with the heavyweight division here, part two with the light heavyweight division here, part three with the middleweight division here, part four with the welterweight division here, part five with the lightweight division here, part six with the featherweight division here), and part seven with the bantamweight and flyweight divisions here.

CHAMPION

Joanna Jedrzejczyk (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is a long way from being on a level comparable to Ronda Rousey, but she's certainly making great strides to get close to the other female champion in the UFC. Following her excellent title win over Carla Esparza (UFC 185), she put forth an even better performance against Jessica Penne in Berlin (UFC Fight Night 69). It's a shame only Fight Pass subscribers got to see it live.

That lack of mainstream attention will be rectified if she can repeat the same level of performance against Claudia Gadelha at UFC 195 early next year. Gadelha is her closest foe, and many had the Brazilian as the winner when they first fought at UFC on Fox 13 late last year. A dominant win over her biggest rival, on a card headlined by Rousey, will do wonders for both her and the division she champions.


COULD BE CONTENDERS

Put your hand up if you expected Maryna Moroz (6-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to beat Joanne Calderwood (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) so convincingly when they fought each other at UFC Fight Night 64. If your hand is up you are either lying or you're a genius because I didn't see it coming. Moroz was pretty much unheard of before the fight in Poland. Straight after she was being touted as a potential title contender, but that momentum is gone now after she lost this weekend to Valerie Letourneau at UFC Fight Night 74 on Sunday. Calderwood, on the other hand, bounced back from that shock defeat with a hard earned decision win over Cortney Casey in Glasgow (UFC Fight Night 72). Her limitations, though, are clear for all to see.


ESTABLISHED

As part of SBG Ireland, Aisling Daly (15-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has become fairly well known as being part of the Conor McGregor bandwagon. She had a bit of success as part of TUF 20, and even earned her first official win in the finale against Alex Chambers. However, Randa Markos brought her back to earth after a good win at UFC 186. Her next fight in Dublin is against Ericka Almeida, and is one that she should win with a raucous hometown crowd behind her.

Germaine de Randamie (5-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has been very up-and-down in her three UFC fights thus far. Wins over Julie Kedzie and Larissa Pacheco (UFC 185) were sandwiched between a quick TKO loss to Amanda Nunes (UFC Fight for the Troops 3). Russian Milena Dudieva (11-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) edged a very close split decision over Elizabeth Phillips (UFC Fight Night 48) before easily losing her follow-up-fight to the excellent Julianna Pena (UFC Fight Night 63). None of the three mentioned in this section will ever likely get near title contention.


NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Alexandra Albu (2-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) certainly made a statement when she won her debut against Izabela Badurek (5-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 64 in Poland. Albu won the fight with a slick guillotine choke after dominating the duration against fellow debutante Badurek.

Tina Lahdemaki (5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has been woefully inactive since her debut loss to Claudia Gadelha at UFC Fight Night 45, and more than a year later, she still doesn't have a new fight scheduled.


ON THE RADAR

Pannie Kianzad (8-0 MMA) could be the new Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion this time next month. She faces veteran Tonya Evinger at Invicta 14, and win or lose will most probably end up in the UFC in the next couple of years. 20 year old Agnieszka Niedzwiedz (7-0 MMA) from the Gracie Barra team in Lodz, Poland is a real talent who just keeps on winning.

After losing her debut to the aforementioned Kianzad, fellow Swede Lina Akhtar Lansberg (4-1 MMA) is on a four-fight win streak, but at 33 years old her best days may already be behind her. Same rule of thumb applies to the slightly more experienced Julia Berezikova (8-4 MMA) who hails from Russia.

Karolina Kowalkiewicz (7-0 MMA) holds wins over both Kalindra Faria and Mizuki Inoue, and at 29 years old is fast approaching her peak. She's a real talent and would be an excellent addition to the UFC roster. Ditto for Katja Kankaanpaa (10-2-1 MMA) whose only losses have come against top tier opponents in Joanne Calderwood and Livia Renata Souza.

Follow me on Twitter, @MMATorchDan and let me know your opinion on anything I've written about.