5 rising stars in the UFC women's divisions

#4. Kanako Murata (UFC women's strawweight)

Kanako Murata

Japanese mixed martial artist Kanako Murata, who started her MMA career in 2016, is now a rising star in the UFC women's strawweight division. She made her MMA debut with Rizin and has fought in multiple promotions, including Invicta FC, where she is a former strawweight champion. At 27 years of age, Murato is 12-2 in her MMA career with six stoppage wins.

The granddaughter of a dojo master, Murata started training judo when she was three years old. She won the national judo championship during her high school years and then transitioned to freestyle wrestling. In 2011, at the age of 17, Murata won the Junior World Championship in freestyle wrestling.

Kanako Murata made her UFC debut in 2020 and, although currently unranked, is a rising star in the UFC women's strawweight division.

Murata has 59% striking accuracy with strong grappling and jiu-jitsu. Prior to her most recent TKO loss, which came after an elbow dislocation, she was on a nine-match winning streak.

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#3. Mackenzie Dern (UFC women's strawweight)

Mackenzie Dern is a rising star in UFC women's strawweight division

Mackenzie Dern made her UFC debut in 2018 and has gone 6-1 since then. Her loss against Amanda Ribas at UFC Fight Night 161 is the only one in her MMA career that started in 2016. The UFC women's strawweight is a former world No. 1-ranked IBJJF competitor and an ADCC and no-gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion.

Currently ranked No.6 in the UFC women's strawweight division, Mackenzie Dern is one of the most promising contenders of the current lot. She has never been stopped and is 11-1 in her MMA career with seven submission wins. The 28-year-old has a black belt in jiu-jitsu, and it shows.

No more debate! 💢@MackenzieDern is now in the title conversation. [ #UFCVegas23 | We're LIVE on @ABCNetwork & #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/8CuAcshyf6

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2021

Mackenzie Dern has four submission wins in her UFC career, with three of them coming in her last four fights and winning her a 'Performance of the Night' bonus on each occasion.