Who’s Number One: Rafael Lovato Jr. vs Gilbert Burns featured two thrilling matches including some of the top-ranked talent in the women’s strawweight division. Three of the four women in those matches were ranked; and the fourth has made a case that she deserves to be considered in the top 10.

On the main card, the no.2-ranked Grace Gundrum was slated to face the no.3-ranked Jessa Khan in the lead up to the event. With Khan injured, Gundrum instead faced relatively unknown Alex Nguyen. 

Nguyen was first to pull guard and earned an early sweep. She maintained top pressure and offered several threatening passing attempts. Nguyen even earned the judges’ favor after the first five minutes of action.

Nguyen’s pressure and hunger for submission attempts proved impressive, and her wrestling pedigree allowed for some creative scrambles between the two athletes. In her black belt debut, Nguyen proved herself deserving of consideration for ranking in the strawweight division.

But the no.2-ranked Gundrum stole the momentum of the match near the halfway point, coming up on an electric chair sweep and falling back on her 10th Planet roots. She used a double-under pass to get to the truck, and then abandoned that position to finish in side control. Later in the match, she passed again, and unleashed a chain of submission attacks, culminating in a rear mount triangle armlock.

With her patience, resilience, and innovative grappling, Gundrum has once again established her place atop this stacked division. But there are others in the top-10 working their way toward the top of the food chain.

The no.7-ranked Jessie Crane and the no.6-ranked Lauren Sears squared off in the undercard in a rematch from a previous Fight to Win rules bout. Sears won the previous match by decision, but Crane kept the rematch out of the judges’ control.

Crane scored an early takedown despite a counter guillotine attempt by Sears. Once on top, Crane proceeded to pass and establish mount, where she remained patient and in control for several minutes. When Crane finally secured the back, she secured a quick choke.

She’s bound to move up in the rankings, and could be on the short list for a match with the no.5-ranked Danielle Kelly, who is coming off of a decision loss to Khan.

Standing between Kelly and the no.3-ranked Khan is Patricia Fontes. The no.4-ranked strawweight has recent losses to Gundrum and the strawweight queen, Mayssa Bastos.

Fontes is due for a match on WNO, and any of the women on this list would make for a compelling show of jiu-jitsu in this highly competitive division. She has a submission victory over Khan from several years ago, and would surely enjoy another opportunity to take on Khan and reassert herself in the top-three. 

Bastos is far and away the best of the strawweights. She earned a narrow victory over Gundrum at Who’s Number One: Duarte vs Vieira in December 2020. She’s been dominant against every other challenger in a no-gi match. 

But the strawweight division is shaping up to be one of the most competitive of any weight category in no-gi grappling. Can one of these women climb the ranks, earn their shot against Bastos, and topple the top woman in the division?