Let's look at all you need to know about UFC Bantamweight Division.
UFC Bantamweight Division
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. In MMA, the Bantamweight Division is within 126-135 lbs (57.2-61.2 kg). The Bantamweight Division sits between the Flyweight Division (116-125 lbs) and the Featherweight Division.
Current Bantamweight Champion- 2023
The current UFC Bantamweight Champion is Aljamain Sterling (23-3)
(Photo courtesy: UFC Twitter: @ufc)
The fighter from New York won a five-fight streak, leading to a shot at the bantamweight title against the champion Petr Yan.
Despite Yan looking good in this fight, he ended up connecting with an illegal knee that stopped the action. This made Aljamain Sterling the first person to win the UFC championship by disqualification.
Moving on, Aljamain Sterling recently defended his bantamweight title for the second time at UFC 280 against T.J Dillashaw.
Sterling won the bout with technical knockout punches in the second round.
Sterling faced off against the celebrated Henry "Triple C" Cejudo at UFC 288 on May 6th, 2023, where he defended the bantamweight title for the third time by emerging victorious via a split decision.
Latest Results from UFC Bantamweight
| Date | Fight | Method | Round | Result |
| June 3, 2023 | Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Muñoz Jr. | Decision (unanimous) | R3 (5:00) | Daniel Santos def. Johnny Muñoz Jr. |
| June 3, 2023 | John Castañeda vs. Muin Gafurov | Decision (unanimous) | R3 (5:00) | John Castañeda def. Muin Gafurov |
| June 3, 2023 | Da'Mon Blackshear vs. Luan Lacerda | TKO (punches) | R2 (3:54) | Da'Mon Blackshear def. Luan Lacerda |
UFC Bantamweight Rankings 2023
| Rank | Fighter | Record | M | Win Streak | Result | Last fight | Next fight |
| C | Aljamain Sterling | 23–3 | 9 (3 def) | Win | UFC 288 Henry Cejudo | UFC 292 Sean O'Malley | |
| 1 | Merab Dvalishvili | 16–4 | 9 | Win | UFC Fight Night 221 Petr Yan | TBD | |
| 2 | Sean O'Malley | 16–1 (1 NC) | 1 | Win | UFC 280 Petr Yan | UFC 292 Aljamain Sterling | |
| 3 | Henry Cejudo | 16–3 | 0 | Loss | UFC 288 Aljamain Sterling | TBD | |
| 4 | Cory Sandhagen | 16–4 | 2 | Win | UFC on ESPN 43 Marlon Vera | TBD | |
| 5 | Petr Yan | 16–5 | 0 | Loss | UFC Fight Night 221 Merab Dvalishvili | TBD | |
| 6 | Marlon Vera | 20–8–1 | 0 | Loss | UFC on ESPN 43 Cory Sandhagen | TBD | |
| 7 | Rob Font | 20–6 | 1 | Win | UFC 287 Adrian Yanez | TBD | |
| 8 | Song Yadong | 20–6–1 (1 NC) | 1 | Win | UFC on ESPN 45 Ricky Simón | TBD | |
| 9 | Dominick Cruz | 24–4 | 0 | Loss | UFC on ESPN 41 Marlon Vera | TBD | |
| 10 | Pedro Munhoz | 20–7 (2 NC) | 1 | Win | UFC on ESPN 44 Chris Gutiérrez | TBD | |
| 11 | Umar Nurmagomedov | 16–0 | 16 | Win | UFC Fight Night 217 Raoni Barcelos | TBD | |
| 12 | Ricky Simón | 20–4 | 0 | Loss | UFC on ESPN 45 Song Yadong | TBD | |
| 13 | Adrian Yanez | 16–4 | 0 | Loss | UFC 287 Rob Font | TBD | |
| 14 | Chris Gutiérrez | 19–5–2 | 0 | Loss | UFC on ESPN 44 Pedro Munhoz | TBD | |
| 15 | Jonathan Martinez | 18–4 | 5 | Win | UFC Fight Night 221 Said Nurmagomedov | TBD |
Check Out: All the Weight Classes from UFC
History of Bantamweight Class
Before the UFC-WEC merger, Dominick Cruz was the WEC Bantamweight Champion. At WEC 53, Cruz defeated Scott Jorgensen to retain the WEC Bantamweight Championship and was simultaneously awarded the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Championship.
At UFC 173, T.J. Dillashaw defeated Renan Barao to win the UFC Bantamweight Championship. At UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs Cruz, Dominick Cruz became the first-ever two-time Bantamweight Champion. At UFC 207, Cruz lost the title to Cody Garbrandt, who eventually lost it to Dillashaw, making the latter a two-time division champion.
Due to a failed drug test, Dillashaw vacated his title in March 2019. After winning the vacant title at UFC 238 and defending it at UFC 249, Cejudo became the fourth UFC fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes (Flyweight and Bantamweight) simultaneously and the second to defend titles in two other weight divisions.
Petr Yan defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 251 and became the current UFC Bantamweight Champion.
In his first title defense, Yan faced #1 ranked Bantamweight Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 on March 6, 2021, and lost the title by disqualification due to an intentional illegal knee landed by him in the fourth round to Sterling.
Sterling couldn't continue the fight any further due to a concussion, and the doctor recommended stopping the fight, thus making him the new UFC Bantamweight champion. This is the first-ever title change caused by disqualification in UFC history.
Sterling then defended his belt against Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo.
UFC Weight Divisions
Men
Women
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*Last Updated on June 4, 2023
