Top bantamweights across Bellator and UFC were in action this past week, and as a result, they are the focus of this week’s USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.
On Friday at Bellator 272, Sergio Pettis pulled off one of the best knockouts of the year in a comeback win over Kyoji Horiguchi to defend the Bellator bantamweight title for the first time. In Saturday’s main event at UFC on ESPN 31, Jose Aldo took care of business against Rob Font, keeping his name in the title picture.
This weekend, UFC 269 features two title fights and key matchups at the top of multiple divisions that could cause a shake-up in the next rankings update.
Check out where those fighters rank in the dropdown above and be sure to find out next week where things stand.
Ranking Criteria
The rankings take into account a fighter’s wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they’ve been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they’re not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter’s primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won’t be ranked in a new weight class until they’ve had their first fight at that weight.