Miguel Torres returned to the top of the bantamweight divisional buzz rankings in January after having been temporarily dislodged in December by Rani Yahya. While Yahya quickly dropped back down to eighth in the rankings, Torres continues to be a mainstay for the division and one of the poster boys of the WEC organization. As Torres looks to earn a shot at regaining his bantamweight belt at WEC 47 in March, champion Brian Bowles will have his hands full on the same night when he takes on Dominick Cruz. Should Torres win his bout, a title challenge against the winner of Cruz vs Bowles seems a likely outcome and would drive healthy ratings for the WEC. Full Top 20 rankings are below.
Tapology’s Buzz Rankings measure fan interest in individual MMA fighters based on online searches and pageviews for information about each athlete. The rankings are not a measure of a fighter’s skill or competitive standing within their division, but rather how much activity or “buzz” surrounds them (positive or negative).
Top 20 Bantamweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Rani Yahya)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Miguel Torres)
- October 2009 (#1 Rank: Miguel Torres)
- September 2009 (#1 Rank: Miguel Torres)
| January Rank |
Bantamweight Fighter | December to January Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Torres | Up 1 |
| 2 | Brian Bowles | Up 6 |
| 3 | Dominick Cruz | Up 2 |
| 4 | Joseph Benavidez | No Change |
| 5 | Wagnney Fabiano | Up 4 |
| 6 | Scott Jorgensen | Down 3 |
| 7 | Charlie Valencia | Up 11 |
| 8 | Rani Yahya | Down 7 |
| 9 | Damacio Page | Up 1 |
| 10 | Takayo Hashi | Down 10 |
| 11 | Akitoshi Tamura | Up 12 |
| 12 | Manny Tapia | Up 10 |
| 13 | Antonio Banuelos | Up 4 |
| 14 | Brad Pickett | Down 3 |
| 15 | Clint Godfrey | Up 26 |
| 16 | Takeya Mizugaki | Down 9 |
| 17 | Will Campuzano | Down 5 |
| 18 | Coty Wheeler | Up 3 |
| 19 | Cole Escovedo | Up 20 |
| 20 | Wilson Reis | Up 16 |
Dropped out of Top 20:
Danny Martinez (#21), Will Ribeiro (#22), Chad George (#24), Kenji Osawa (#26), Kyle Dietz (#28), John Hosman (#30), Rolando Perez (#33)
[...] 20 Bantamweight Buzz Rankings for recent months: – January 2010 (#1 Rank: Miguel Torres) – December 2009 (#1 Rank: Rani Yahya) – November 2009 (#1 Rank: Miguel [...]