And you know what? She’s right.
It’s August 2026. Zhang Weili hasn’t fought at 115 pounds since February 2025. 18 months. And, as far as we know, she doesn’t have a booking on the horizon.
By the MMA Fighting Rankings Committee by-laws, it’s official: Due to inactivity, Zhang must be removed from the divisional rankings. Rules rule.
In actuality, the timing couldn’t work out better because Dern just recorded her first successful title defense with a convincing decision win over Gillian Robertson in this past Saturday’s UFC 330 co-main event. No, Dern didn’t beat Zhang to win the title, instead capturing it by beating Virna Jandiroba after Zhang moved up to flyweight to chase Valentina Shevchenko, but she is now a reigning and defending champion and Zhang is nowhere to be seen.
Our own Jed Meshew already had Dern ranked above Zhang, but with Zhang ineligible to receive votes at strawweight, the panel has no choice but to follow Jed’s lead and crown Dern as the unanimous No. 1 fighter in her division. Look, we’d all love to see Zhang—still No. 2 in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings—come back and give Dern a chance to properly take the torch. Until that happens, Dern has earned her spot.
Even if Zhang doesn’t come back, there are several intriguing challengers in line to test Dern. There’s Tatiana Suarez, who previously fought for the title, and then there are up-and-comers Fatima Kline and Alexia Thainara, both of whom make big jumps with their recent wins.
Kline is 10-1 with her lone loss coming to Jasmine Jasudavicius in a short-notice contest at 125 pounds. In her natural weight class, Kline has never lost, and she’s coming off of two impressive wins over Tabatha Ricci and Angela Hill that have her up eight spots on the charts since our June update.
Thainara—who moves from No. 12 to No. 7—is on a 13-fight win streak since her last loss in 2019, a stretch of success that includes a 4-0 UFC mark. Either her or Kline could be next for Dern if the Zhang matchup isn’t meant to be.
Check out the latest MMA Fighting strawweight rankings below.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Mackenzie Dern def. No. 6 Gillian Robertson, No. 14 Fatima Kline def. No. 10 Tabatha Ricci, No. 12 Alexia Thainara def. No. 7 Amanda Lemos
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Yan Xiaonan vs. No. 13 Denise Gomes (UFC Shanghai, Aug. 29)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Talita Alencar (1), Piera Rodriguez (1)
Falling out of the rankings: No. 1 Zhang Weili (inactivity at 115 pounds)
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