This is when this series of posts gets more complicated. The women's divisions and men's flyweight aren't very deep in terms of number of fighters. Those divisions have 30-40 fighters at most. When the rankings go 15 deep and there's only 30 fighters available to rank, then the division is pretty straight forward in terms of what I'm doing here. Bantamweight is one of the best and deepest divisions in the UFC, so this one will be more complicated and require a little more work. There's a lot of names and a lot of people will unfortunately be left out. Bantamweight is my favorite weight class in the UFC, so this one is going to be a lot of fun for me to do. Let's start.
Champion - Aljamain Sterling
Look, I know it's the cool thing to do to clown on Aljo, but let's be real for a second. To use a quote from one of my personal favorites "it is what it is" and what happened that night isn't Sterling's fault. Yan threw the illegal knee and Mark Smith made his call. Whether you like that someone can win a belt because of a DQ is a different story, but that has nothing to do with Aljamain Sterling. Unfortunately, a lot of this has really overshadowed Aljo's ability as a fighter. We all know that he was fading as that fight continued, but Aljo is a great fighter and earned his spot in that title fight the hard way. Aljo's wrestling is his strength and his submissions have been coming along nicely to allow him to finish fights instead of being forced to grind out decisions. Whether you like him to retain his title in March or not, you have to respect what he's shown us in the octagon.
Next Challenger - Petr Yan
Not only is Yan the next challenger, he's also the interim champion. In the mind of many, Petr Yan is the real champion and it's kind of hard to disagree with them to some extent. Yan was the champion and he was pulling away before the illegal knee brought that fight to an end. Yan's last fight against Cory Sandhagen was an absolutely phenomenal performance and I think that really cemented his status as the real champion to a lot of fans. Yan's boxing was starting to pick Aljo apart late in that fight and I imagine he'll be looking to implement a lot of the same techniques in the rematch. I would expect another strong performance from Yan in March and I expect him to be the favorite when we get close to that fight.
Contenders - TJ Dillashaw, Jose Aldo, and Dominick Cruz
This was a little difficult to narrow down. TJ Dillashaw is probably the clearest guy to be in this category as he never lost his belt in the cage and he defeated Cory Sandhagen in what was supposed to be the number one contender fight. We all know Dillashaw's story as the former champion who was then stripped after his suspension. We seemed to have forgot how good he really was and his win over Sandhagen proved that he's still a high level competitor. As long as he returns from his knee surgery with a clean bill of health, I expect him to be the front runner for the next shot. Jose Aldo is in a little bit of a weird spot. He's ran threw a few fighters towards the top of the rankings since he lost in the title fight to Yan for the vacated belt. His latest win over Rob Font really proved something to me that he's to be taken seriously in terms of getting yet another title fight in his amazing career. I think it is better for Aldo if Sterling were to retain his title because I'm not sure that an Aldo vs Yan rematch is super high on the list of fights the UFC is really looking to make. It's likely that Aldo will need one more win before he gets the title shot, unless Dillashaw can't return as quickly as was initially reported. Dominick Cruz is probably on the lower end of this category if I'm being honest, but I think he still fits. His last win is over Pedro Munhoz, which isn't the type of fight that will immediately put someone in a title fight, but Dominick Cruz isn't just anyone. Cruz is arguably the best bantamweight in MMA history and if anyone can find themselves in a title fight prematurely, Cruz has certainly earned it. Cruz is an absolute legend of the sport and I think a number one contender fight between him and Aldo makes sense for all parties. It would be a huge fight for both men, set them up for a title shot, and be a headliner for the UFC. I don't think Cruz will fight for a title in his next appearance, but I think only one more win will put him in that position.
Up and Comers - Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O'Malley, Ricky Simon, and Song Yadong
Dvalishvili is on the border between this category and contenders if we're being honest. I chose to put Merab here because he's generally lesser known and he may still be multiple fights away from a title shot. His best win is his last one against Marlon Moraes and he came back after being hurt badly in the early going. His relentless wrestling and incredible cardio are his strengths and he's taken them all the way to the 6th spot in the division. There's a bit of a log jam at the top of this division and that's why Merab lands in the up and comers instead of the contenders. Dillashaw is the number one guy right now and there will be another one before Merab gets his shot at that type of fight. Sean O'Malley is one of the most polarizing figures in the sport right now and I don't think many people view him reasonably. His fan base thinks he's already championship material and those that hate him think he's the worst fighter currently with a license. Realistically, Sean O'Malley is a good fighter with tremendous talent, but also some legitimate questions he needs to answer. His striking is some of the most fun to watch in the entire sport and he's incredibly dynamic. We still have questions about his grappling and his ability to absorb damage, especially to his legs. Every O'Malley fight is going to be a big one and now that he's in the rankings, we'll see how far he can go before he finds himself in a real fight. I know he lost to Marlon Vera, but that was a weird situation that didn't answer any of the questions regarding how Sean responds when he's facing someone who doesn't get hurt by his shots and throws some back. I think Pedro Munhoz would be a great opponent for him, but that's just me. Another great opponent for Sean would be Ricky Simon, who I also have listed here. Simon is much the opposite of Sean in a lot of ways. He's not very dynamic and flashy, but relies on hard work and grit. Simon uses his wrestling and cardio to overwhelm is opponents and he does a great job at it. He's not the most amazing guy athletically or anything like that, but he uses every skill he has in a way that makes him very difficult to get the jump on. He's a lot like Dvalishvili in a lot of ways. He doesn't do anything that's wild or crazy, but he's a damn tough fighter and will be a tough out for anyone who is able to get a win over him. Song Yadong has been on one of these lists for awhile now it seems. He's still so young and has already come so far in his career. He's 7-1-1 in the UFC and we're about to see how far he can take things. He'll be facing Marlon Moraes in his next time out and that step up will go a long way towards indicating where Yadong is at in his career. He has all the talent in the world and we'll see if he can put it all together and get wins over some higher level opponents. Yadong isn't very loud and has sort of fallen out of the public eye, but he isn't to be taken lightly and he could find himself in even bigger fights in the second half of 2022 if he can come away with the win over Moraes.
Wild Cards - Cory Sandhagen, Rob Font, and Marlon Vera
Cory Sandhagen is in such a weird spot. We all sort of recognize that he's one of the 3 or 4 best in the division, but he came up short in his short notice interim title shot and got a split decision loss to Dillashaw before that. Especially in this division, he probably needs to put together a streak of 2 or 3 wins in order to get back to the title, but at the same time, there isn't really a clear matchup for him. Maybe he gets Rob Font next or the loser of the title unification bout, but it's still unclear to me what would be next for him. He's still one of the elites of the division and I think he just needs to wait for some of the pieces to fall into place before he makes a decision on where to go next. Rob Font was getting a heavy push and may have been one or two fights away from the title before he lost to Jose Aldo. That's been a set back for Font and I feel like he's in the same realm as Sandhagen. The logjam that's happening due to Aljo's injury has sort of left Font and Sandhagen with limited options. The only fighters besides themselves that are coming off of losses are way farther down in the rankings, so their options are limited. I think Font should also just wait for things to open up after the unification bout in March before jumping to any conclusions unless he can get the Sandhagen fight. I put Marlon Vera here because I think he's a true wild card. I really just don't know what to make of him. He was able to injure and defeat Sean O'Malley, then lost to Jose Aldo. He then beats Davey Grant and a fading Frankie Edgar. He's beating fighters at the back end of the rankings, but losing to fighters at the top, which leaves him somewhere in the middle. The problem is, I don't really know how to rank him compared to some of those guys because he's not really fighting anyone in that tier. Admittedly, I don't really see Vera in the same tier as Dillashaw or Sandhagen in terms of skill and talent, but a few years ago, I don't think anyone would have said they seem him as a guy who finds himself in the rankings and here we are. I'm really just unsure of how to view Vera and where exactly he stands in the division. I think having him fight Merab Dvalishvili would be a good way to test the both of them and give us a clearer picture of where they both stand. It's not unrealistic to think that Vera could be in the top 5 by the end of the year with another 2 or 3 wins against some tough competition, but it won't be easy.
Prospects - Adrian Yanez, Said Nurmagomedov, and Jack Shore
This is tough. There's so many names I could have mentioned, but I decided to leave it at these three. Adrian Yanez is probably the most recognizable name here and is a hot topic on lists like these. Yanez has a great story surrounding his relationship with his father and his coach that has endeared him to fans in a great way. Yanez combines his relatable and likeable story with tremendous striking that translates to a very fan friendly style. We do need to see Yanez grapple some before we can say he's a future title challenger, but clearly he has the talent to take this farther than most people. His ability to find the knockout is tremendous and that's why everyone wants to see the striking battle between him and Sean O'Malley. I don't think that makes as much sense in terms of where they're at in their careers, but in terms of fun match making, you won't find me complaining. I wanted to include Said Nurmagomedov because I think he's misunderstood and he's really good. With the last name Nurmagomedov, everyone expects him to come in and wrestle people to death and that's not his style at all. He does have a couple submissions on his resume from early on, but Said is much more of a stand up fighter and he's a dangerous one at that. He'll be fighting Cody Stamann coming up and that will be a great test for him to potentially jump into the rankings soon. I picked Jack Shore as my last prospect and it was hard to leave some other guys off, but Shore has the skills worthy of being here. He's much more of a mixed martial artist than most prospects tend to be. He does a good job of mixing both striking and grappling that isn't seen as much in unranked fighters. He probably relies more on his grappling than striking at this point, but I don't think there's a huge gap between the two phases that we often see plague fighters with the same experience level as Shore. His next fight will be against another fighter who I considered for this spot, Umar Nurmagomedov. Umar is an honorable mention for this prospect list as is Danaa Batgerel.
I think that's it for men's bantamweight. What do you guys think? Who did I leave out that you would have included? Who gets the win between Sterling and Yan? Is Dillashaw a lock for the following title shot? Cruz vs Aldo is the fight to make right? Is Merab Dvalishvili a future title challenger? How far can Sean O'Malley take this run? What do guys like Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font do next? Can Jack Shore and Adrian Yanez push themselves into the rankings by the end of the year? Leave any and all thoughts in the comments and thanks for reading. Have a good one.
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