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Next Saturday at UFC 248, Zhang Weili doesn't just defend her UFC women's strawweight title; she will also look to continue her quiet but forceful journey up the list of the best 115-pounders in MMA history.

Thus far, China's first UFC champ has proved worthy of the mantle, using deceptive power and creativity to flat-out dominate opponents. She's also a consummate professional, radiating smarts, humility and plain old friendliness whenever someone thinks to pass her the mic.

Her opponent next Saturday, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, is a former dominant champ herself. You may know her. She's fallen on hard times of late, dropping three of her last five and making some odd and inflammatory comments along the way. But she and her tiny-grain-thresher muay thai are still very much live threats, and after UFC 248, she could be right back on top and celebrated as if none of her other problems ever happened. It is the MMA way.

This got us to thinking. Wang is still new on the landscape, and Joanna Violence has at least for now lost her shine, but could either be the best strawweight ever? And if the answer is "no," who is?

Strawweights first competed in the Octagon in 2014. But the UFC didn't invent this weight class and doesn't hold a monopoly. There are plenty of fighters with top-flight records in shows around the world, and a lot of them were and are pretty good, too.

Let us now count down the best strawweights ever. Points are awarded based on record, caliber of competition and sustained success over time. There is one tricky issue at play, which is that several prominent Asia-based promotions have different ways of organizing their weight divisions, so it's not always an apples-to-apples situation. But we're all friends here. We'll all understand that a few pounds here or there doesn't violate the spirit of the list, right? I'll look forward to seeing all your agreements in the comments.