Denise "Dee" Gomes: Brazil's #13 Strawweight on a Roll

Who is Denise Gomes?

Denise “Dee” Gomes is a 26-year-old strawweight out of Brazil, and right now she sits at #13 in the Women’s Strawweight rankings. Her record reads 12-3-0 — a clean, aggressive line for someone still this early in her prime. She fights out of an Orthodox stance, and everything about her profile on paper points to a fighter who has already done the hard part of any strawweight climb: cracking the rankings and staying there.

If you follow the division, Gomes is exactly the kind of name that turns a bracket into an argument. Ranked, Brazilian, young, and winning — the debate isn’t whether she belongs, it’s how high she goes.

The record, and what the rank says

Twelve wins against three losses is a strong ledger, and the #13 slot confirms it isn’t padding — she’s being measured against the best strawweights in the world and holding her ground inside the top 15. For a 26-year-old, that ranking is less a ceiling and more a launch pad. There’s runway here, and the numbers say she’s using it.

Style on paper

We won’t invent tendencies the data doesn’t give us, so let’s read what her physicals tell us:

• Height: 5’ 2" — compact for the division, which usually means she has to close distance and make the pocket her office.
• Reach: 63" — and this is the eyebrow-raiser. A 63-inch reach on a 5’2" frame is long for her height, an above-average span that lets her touch opponents who think they’re safe. That combination — short but rangy — is a genuinely awkward puzzle for anyone across the cage.
• Stance: Orthodox — conventional footing, nothing exotic to solve, which puts the emphasis back on that reach and her timing.
• Age: 26 — squarely in the window where fighters stop learning the ropes and start imposing.

Short, long-armed, and in her physical prime: on paper, that’s a fighter built to fight bigger than her height and outlast the curve.

Recent form

Here’s why she’s worth watching right now. Reading her latest results:

• W
• W vs Elise Reed
• W
• W
• L vs Angela Hill

Four wins in her recent stretch — including a named result over Elise Reed — with the only blemish being a loss to the veteran Angela Hill. Losing to a name like Hill is the kind of setback that tells you where a fighter is, not that she’s stalled. Everything since has trended up. A run like this is exactly what pushes someone from “ranked” toward “contender conversation.”

What to watch for

• The climb from #13. She’s inside the top 15 and winning. The next question the division has to answer is who’s willing to give her a step up — and whether she takes it.
• That reach in the pocket. A 63-inch span on a compact frame is the tool to keep an eye on; it’s her natural equalizer against taller strawweights.
• The bounce-back arc. One loss to a proven veteran, then a stack of wins. Fighters who respond like that are the ones worth tracking.

Her next opponent isn’t set yet — which, honestly, is the fun part. The matchup is a blank space fans get to fill in with their own “who does she beat next” takes.

Follow the run

Dee Gomes is 26, ranked, and rolling — the kind of profile that rewards paying attention before the big fight lands. Keep her on your radar, and when her next bout gets announced, load her into your bracket and call the winner. Where does a rangy, in-prime #13 go from here? That’s the debate — pick your side.