Underneath the shadows of fighters such as Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, Paige VanZant, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Rose Namajunas and even the retired Gina Carano – there are a plethora of Asian women who have been making their mark in the MMA scene. Considering that Asia has been one of the birthplaces of martial arts, it’d be good to get to know who some of these women are.

Here are the top five that you should get to know.

5) Jinh Yu Frey

She may be early in her career, Jinh Yu Frey being of Korean descent is one of the up and coming fighters in Invicta FC. Her father, mother and brother all had Tae Kwon Do backgrounds but she chose track and softball instead. Eventually she made herself into the martial arts world and then shocked the world when she knocked out Darla Harris in devastating fashion. Her last win found her defeating former Invicta FC atomweight champion Herica Tiburcio.

4) Seo Hee Ham

Nicknamed Hamderlei Silva, Seo Hee Ham who’s a natural atomweight was asked to join the UFC’s strawweight division after her impressive wins in Invicta FC, Smackgirl, Road FC and Jewels. Although she’s undersized in her new weight division, her impressive boxing skills has given her opponents a tough challenge.

3) Angela Lee

Only 19-years-old, Angela Lee won OneFC’s inaugural atomweight championship belt. Having started martial arts at six years old, Lee has one of the brightest futures in MMA. With a father, mother and with siblings that are all martial artists, she has been surrounded by martial arts starting at a very young age. Additionally, she also recently signed a new contract with OneFC that pays even more than the UFC’s current strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Impressive.

2) Ayaka Hamasaki

Ayaka Hamasaki is the current InvictaFC atomweight (105 lbs.) champion. With a record of 12-1, her only loss is to Cláudia Gadelha whom is a currently a strawweight in the UFC vying for the title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. With over eight years in judo, being a 2nd dan, Hamasaki is rated as the #1 atomweight in the world. She was also the first Jewels atomweight champion and happens to train with the legendary Megumi Fujii.

1) Michelle Waterson

Being of Thai descent, Michelle Waterson has been one of the most exciting Asian female fighters to watch. With a free-style Karate background and having trained in other martial arts such as Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Wushu, Waterson was the former InvictaFC atomweight champion. She has recently joined the UFC where she moved back to the strawweight division (115lbs.) and one her first fight for the organization with an impressive submission over Angela Magana.

Clyde Erwin Barretto is an emphatic obsessed fan of mixed martial arts, combat sports and body movement. Follow him on Twitter @ClydeBarretto.