UFC Bantamweight

Last Modified May 18, 2025 09:46 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- 2025

The current UFC Bantamweight Champion is Merab Dvalishvili (19-4-0).

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Merab Dvalishvili

At UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O'Malley to become the new bantamweight champion. Dvalishvili was declared the victor via a unanimous decision after five rounds. He defended the title for the first time against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311.

Latest Results from UFC Bantamweight

Date Fight MethodRound Result
May 10, 2025Brad Katona vs. Bekzat AlmakhanKO (punches)11:04
Bekzat Almakhan def. Brad Katona

UFC Bantamweight Rankings 2025

RankFighterRecordMWin StreakResultLast fightNext fight
CMerab Dvalishvili19–4 12 (1 def)WinUFC 311 Umar Nurmagomedov
UFC 316 Sean O'Malley
1Sean O'Malley18–2(1 NC) 0LossUFC 306 Merab Dvalishvili
UFC 316 Merab Dvalishvili
2Petr Yan18–5 2WinUFC Fight Night 248 Deiveson FigueiredoTBD
3Umar Nurmagomedov18–1 0LossUFC 311 Merab DvalishviliTBD
4Cory Sandhagen18–5 1WinUFC on ESPN 67 Deiveson FigueiredoTBD
5Song Yadong22–7–1(1 NC) 1WinUFC Fight Night 252 Henry CejudoTBD
6Deiveson Figueiredo24–5–1 0LossUFC on ESPN 67 Cory SandhagenTBD
7Marlon Vera23–10–1 0LossUFC on ABC 7 Deiveson FigueiredoTBD
8Rob Font22–8 2WinUFC Fight Night 252 Jean MatsumotoTBD
9Henry Cejudo16–5 0LossUFC Fight Night 252 Song YadongTBD
10Mario Bautista15–2 7WinUFC 307 José Aldo
UFC 316 Patchy Mix
11Aiemann Zahabi13–246WinUFC 315 José AldoTBD
12Kyler Phillips12–3 0LossUFC Fight Night 245 Rob FontTBD
13Marcus McGhee10–1 6WinUFC 309 Jonathan MartinezTBD
14Montel Jackson15–2 6WinUFC on ESPN 67 Daniel MarcosTBD
15Vinicius Oliveira22–3 5WinUFC Fight Night 250 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.

Sterling's next title defense was against Sean O'Malley at UFC 292, where he lost the championship via a TKO in the second round, making O'Malley the new bantamweight champion.

O'Malley defended the title once against Marlon Vera, after which he lost the championship to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on September 14, 2024.

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.

FAQs On UFC Bantamweight Division

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

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

A. Merab Dvalishvili is the current bantamweight champion.

A. Aljamain Sterling currently competes in the featherweight (145 lbs) division.

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