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Bantamweight Fighters
MMA's bantamweight division runs from 126 to 135 pounds (57.2-61.2 kilograms, or 9.0-9.64 stone). The weight range may encompass certain nonstandard weight divisions, including the Shooto "Featherweight" Division (132 lb. limit) and King of the Cage's "Flyweight" Division (135 lb. limit). The bantamweight class is established at 135 under the rules of both the Nevada State Athletic Commission, as well as the so-called Unified Rules of Combat codified first by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission and adopted throughout most of the United States. Not all major organizations offer a bantamweight class, most notably the Ultimate Fighting Championship, whose lightest weight division remains the lightweight division at 155 lbs.
While excellent bantamweight fighters exist in overseas organizations including Shooto, Deep and Sengoku Raiden Championships, the premier bantamweight class today belongs to Zuffa, which in 2010 folded the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotion's bantamweight class into a new UFC 135 pound division. Standouts include Miguel Torres, who won the WEC Bantamweight Championship at WEC 32 in 2008 and defended the title three times; Dominick Cruz, the WEC's last 135 lb. champion before its addition into the UFC; Joseph Benavidez; Chase Beebe; and Scott Jorgensen. The top bantamweight fighter outside the WEC was for many years Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, who ran roughshod over the Shooto and K-1 Hero's organizations for many years, and at one point was ranked among the top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He too was signed into the UFC's new division in 2010, with his first fight on North American mainland soil in 2011.
Bantamweight MMA is characterized first and foremost by furious action. As the lightest major MMA weight class, its combatants are extremely quick and extremely well-conditioned. They also tend to exhibit a high degree of skill and technical polish, perhaps owing to the need to regularly train against, and compensate for, larger opposition in the gym. Bantamweight fights also exhibit the lowest percentage of knockouts of any major weight class, with approximately 21% of fights in major promotions over the last several years ending via KO or TKO, against 28% by submission and 51% by decision. By contrast, for the last several years the heavyweight division has featured a knockout rate of 65%, more than three times as high.
The WEC has crowned a total of five bantamweight champions: Eddie Wineland, Chase Beebe, Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles and Dominick Cruz. Torres, in addition to having the most title defenses with three, had the longest running championship span, owning the belt for approximately 18 months. On April 24, 2010, the first-ever WEC bantamweight bout was aired on Pay Per View as part of the Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber card, when Scott Jorgensen defeated Antonio Banuelos by decision.
