UFC Bantamweight

Last Modified Jun 04, 2023 07:14 GMT

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)



Aljamain Sterling with his bantamweight belt at UFC 280
(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 MethodRound Result
June 3, 2023Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Muñoz Jr.Decision (unanimous)R3 (5:00)
Daniel Santos def. Johnny Muñoz Jr.
June 3, 2023John Castañeda vs. Muin GafurovDecision (unanimous)R3 (5:00)
John Castañeda def. Muin Gafurov
June 3, 2023Da'Mon Blackshear vs. Luan LacerdaTKO (punches)R2 (3:54)
Da'Mon Blackshear def. Luan Lacerda


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UFC Bantamweight Rankings 2023

RankFighterRecordMWin StreakResultLast fightNext fight
CAljamain Sterling23–3 9
(3 def)
WinUFC 288 Henry Cejudo
UFC 292 Sean O'Malley
1Merab Dvalishvili16–4 9WinUFC Fight Night 221 Petr YanTBD
2Sean O'Malley16–1
(1 NC)
1WinUFC 280 Petr Yan
UFC 292 Aljamain Sterling
3Henry Cejudo16–3 0LossUFC 288 Aljamain SterlingTBD
4Cory Sandhagen16–4 2WinUFC on ESPN 43 Marlon VeraTBD
5Petr Yan16–5 0LossUFC Fight Night 221 Merab DvalishviliTBD
6Marlon Vera20–8–1 0LossUFC on ESPN 43 Cory SandhagenTBD
7Rob Font20–6 1WinUFC 287 Adrian YanezTBD
8Song Yadong20–6–1
(1 NC)
1WinUFC on ESPN 45 Ricky SimónTBD
9Dominick Cruz24–4 0LossUFC on ESPN 41 Marlon VeraTBD
10Pedro Munhoz20–7
(2 NC)
1WinUFC on ESPN 44 Chris GutiérrezTBD
11Umar Nurmagomedov16–0 16WinUFC Fight Night 217 Raoni BarcelosTBD
12Ricky Simón20–4 0LossUFC on ESPN 45 Song YadongTBD
13Adrian Yanez16–4 0LossUFC 287 Rob FontTBD
14Chris Gutiérrez19–5–2 0LossUFC on ESPN 44 Pedro MunhozTBD
15Jonathan Martinez18–4 5WinUFC Fight Night 221 Said NurmagomedovTBD


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

  1. Heavyweight
  2. Light Heavyweight
  3. Middleweight
  4. Welterweight
  5. Lightweight
  6. Featherweight
  7. Bantamweight
  8. Flyweight


Women

  1. Featherweight
  2. Bantamweight
  3. Flyweight
  4. Strawweight


Click for more UFC Rankings.


*Last Updated on June 4, 2023

FAQs

Why do they call it bantamweight?

The division's name is derived from bantam chickens in mixed martial arts. 

How many kg is a bantamweight in UFC?

In UFC, bantamweight is classified as between 126 to 135 lb.

Who is the current Bantamweight Champion?

Aljamain Sterling is the current bantamweight champion.