BEAUTY AND BRAWN  (6 female MMA fighters to possibly watch out for in the coming years)

With UFC Bantamweight superstar Ronda Rousey continuing to take the UFC and mixed martial arts by storm. It is inevitable that more female fighters will develop and emerge and eventually became household names.

With this new influx of brawn and beauty, I have decided to put my prediction skills to the test and name a few female fighters that could follow Miss Rousey as the next superstars in the sport.

Name: Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Pena
Age: 25
Weight: Bantam
Record: 6-2

This Venezuelan beauty came from nowhere to win the Ultimate Fighter season 18 in 2013, with a series of very impressive wins. She seemed to get better with every fight from her unanimous points victory, then two second round submissions, to an even more impressive first round TKO in the final with a second to go.

She is an aggressive come forward fighter who loves to push the pace and throw punches. She’s also very adept on the ground. A plus point is you are not quite sure what her strongest asset is as she has won 3 fights via strikes and 3 via submissions.

In early 2014 she suffered what was described as a “gruesome” knee injury, tearing four out of five ligaments. It was feared she would be out for at least 2 years. She returned a year later to win her comeback fight via first round stoppage, looking better than ever and winning a performance of the night bonus.

Name: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Age: 27
Weight: Straw
Record: 9-0

The Polish striker first came to my attention when she won a hard-fought unanimous decision against Brazilian Juliana Lima. She then won a split decision title eliminator against Brazilian Claudia Gadelha in December 2014. I scored the fight to the Brazilian and thought Jedrzejczyk was unjustly awarded as the victor. But this is an opportunities game and she more than took hers.

Following that controversial victory, she went on the challenge the Ultimate Fighter season 20 winner and Strawweight champion Carla Esparza. In a dominant performance she stopped Esparza n the second round with a series of accurate and devastating straight punches to win a performance of the night bonus.

Jedrzejczyk is a confident, exciting, all action fighter who loves to stand, walk her opponent down and throw power punches, kicks, knees and elbows. She also has great taken down defence. She’s very experienced and has also been a champion in Muay Thai and Kickboxing.

Name: “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant
Age: 21
Weight: Straw
Record: 5-1

I must say when I first heard about “12 gauge” I had my reservations. She has only just turned 21 and I remember when The Ultimate Fighter season 20 was out, there was talk about this young fighter who was good enough to challenge for the title but was too young to go into the house, I was very skeptical at the time…..Now, not so much.

PVZ is a little animal in the octagon. Her endurance is a big asset. For her tender age, she is ultra aggressive and loves to go forward and push the pace, never taking a back step. She definitely is a tough, plucky little thing with massive heart and an underrated ground game.

I would consider her to be a well-rounded fighter who at this time doesn’t do anything exceptionally, but does everything really good. If you add her heart, fight and determination to that, along with only being 21 and competing at the top-level already, then you definitely have a star of the future.

Name: Maryna “The Iron Lady” Maroz
Age: 23
Weight: Straw
Record: 6-0

She may not be the biggest, or the strongest or even the most aggressive but from what I have seen there’s the makings of a potential, technical master. She has a background in boxing and can put her punches together with accuracy, but she ultimately has a lethal ground game with a picture perfect arm bar.

Going through her fight record I have seen her get roughed up, thrown around and punched in the face but all through that, I never saw her lose her composure or focus. For someone so young, her technical skills, striking and especially her ground game is very impressive and she will only get better.

At 23, naturally she has a lot to improve on but for the skills and fight she has shown already. She is working with a tremendous base, and it is very deceiving for her statue but she seems like a tough, hard young woman.

Name: “thug” Rose Namajunas
Age: 22
Weight: Straw
Record: 2-2

Young, inexperienced, emotional and unconventional. It seems she has all the reason’s not to be on this list and I am taking a chance putting her on here but all those “reason’s” is exactly why she is on here. She really impressed with her run to the Ultimate Fighter season 20 finale where she lost to Carla Esparza.

During that run she went from a very inexperienced, rash fighter to a confident, dangerous, skilled fighter. She potentially has some of the most creative, attacking tools in the woman’s game. Her long legs, athleticism and flexibility allows her to be unpredictable and use weapons not usually seen in woman’s MMA.

It’s still to be seen how she adapts to the big leagues as she is yet to make her UFC debut but with the varied weapons she possesses and the rate of her improvement. I am confident of her making an impact.

Name: Viviane “sucuri” Pereira
Age: 21
Weight: Straw
Record: 9-0

This may come from left field but this young Brazilian is a strong, tough, powerhouse of a fighter. She is all brute force and puts her attacks together with lethal accuracy and power. She loves mixing it up with punches, kicks and knees. She’s a diminutive figure but all muscle, especially from the waist down which gives her superb take down defense.

When you see her you may think she throws punches with reckless abandonment but she is smart and agile, with great faints and movement, also a sledgehammer of a jab. She is also known for her ground and pound which is just brutal.

At only 21, her power is scary and it is possible she could get even stronger. She’s fighting predominantly in Brazil so it’s hard to gauge the level of her opponents. I would love to see her pit her wits against opponents in Invicta or the UFC. Her nickname “sucuri” means Anaconda in Portuguese. If you see the way she smothers her opponents then you’ll agree.

Name: Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak
Age: 35
Weight: Fly
Record: 10-2

This one I just sneaked in for good measure and more for an honorary mention. At 35 it’s unlikely the Little Warrior is in a position to make a bigger impact than she already has as the UFC, where it’s widely considered as the top-level, do not have a flyweight division. But she is known to be one of the very best and up there in the pound for pound rankings.

She’s the current Invicta Flyweight champion, winning the companies inaugural championship bout in 2013 and has partly carried woman’s MMA there since, making two defences. She also won the 2013 woman’s fighter of the year.

Though she comes from a grappling background and possesses a high level ground game, she is known to scrap and battle it out on her feet. She also has an impressive chin and likes to push the pace on her opponents.