Top 5 bantamweight wars in MMA history, ranked

The bantamweight division, as defined by the unified rules of MMA via the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), constitutes fighters who are between 126 and 135 pounds.

Before the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board took charge of MMA regulation in 2001, organizations like the UFC used to refer to its lightweight division as bantamweight (which was introduced back at UFC 26). This, however, was a short-lived period given that the UFC realigned its weight classes by UFC 31, which saw the promotion’s first official lightweight fight at 155 pounds.

In Japan, organizations like Shooto were among the first to form a weight class for 135-pounders, which they classified as featherweight. Since the early 2000s, Shooto has been able to produce notable champions from Masakatsu Ueda to Kyoji Horguchi.

In North America, organizations like the WEC and King of the Cage were doing their parts to help pioneer these lighter-weight classes in the early 2000s – though KOTC technically classified itis bantamweights as flyweights due to its division structures.

The WEC, in particular, found some real success with its bantamweight division thanks, in large part, to names like Miguel Torres and Dominick Cruz. In fact, the California-based organization was so hot that it eventually got absorbed by the UFC in 2010, which then adopted its lighter weight classes and fighters alike.

Since then, the bantamweight division has only continued to grow and deserves to be celebrated as one of the best divisions in MMA.

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to pay tribute to the weight class by listing my top five bantamweight battles of all time.

As usual, these lists reflect my personal tastes and biases and are not meant to serve as some ultimate authority. That said, I feel very strongly about not only my list but also my honorable mentions at the end – which are more than strong enough to serve as their own top five.

So, without further ado …