Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz (15-1)
No one doubted that Cruz was a worthwhile challenger to Brian Bowles' WEC title, but few saw a road to victory for the once-beaten bantamweight. On the back of his speedy jab and low kicks, Cruz battered Bowles for 10 lopsided minutes until a broken hand halted Bowles and gave Cruz the WEC crown and bantamweight supremacy.

2. Brian Bowles (8-1)
In his first title defense, Bowles was a step behind Dominick Cruz throughout. After two rounds of one-way action, Bowles bowed out when a doctor examined his broken right hand.

3. Joseph Benavidez (12-1)
Not many gave Benavidez a serious shot at knocking off former 135-pound kingpin Miguel Torres. At WEC 47, Benavidez shamed his doubters, leaving Torres a bloody mess before guillotining him in the second stanza. Whether the win earns Benavidez his crack at the WEC title remains to be seen, but there's no challenger more deserving.

4. Miguel Torres (37-3)
A matter of months ago, Torres was seen as the king of the bantamweights and a pound-for-pound stalwart. Now, after tapping out to Joseph Benavidez in the second round of their March 6 bout, Torres has two consecutive humbling losses and a scar in the middle of his forehead courtesy of Benavidez to boot.

5. Masakatsu Ueda (10-0-2)
The most active Shooto world champion, Ueda will make the fourth defense of his title March 22 at "The Way of Shooto 2.“ He meets slick grappling veteran Shuichiro Katsumura.

6. Scott Jorgensen (9-3)
In past performances, Jorgensen has shown off his figure-four grip guillotine, which he has dubbed "the death choke." At WEC 47, he showed off a brutal 10-finger variety of the guillotine, crushing Chad George in a mere 31 seconds and inserting himself more prominently into the WEC title picture.

7. Takeya Mizugaki (12-4-2)
In his Dec. 19 bout with Scott Jorgensen, Mizugaki finally found his offense in the third round. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for the former Shooto rookie MVP, who dropped a unanimous verdict to the former Boise State wrestler.

8. Damacio Page (15-4)
Page has recovered from shoulder surgery, and the now-healthy Greg Jackson product has landed on the main card of the WEC's first pay-per-view effort on April 24. At WEC 48, "The Angel of Death" will take on fellow bantamweight slugger Antonio Banuelos in a bout tabbed for violence.

9. Rani Yahya (15-5)
Yahya put together three straight first-round submissions since his return to the WEC, but the streak was snapped at WEC 45. It took Joseph Benavidez just 95 seconds to drop the BJJ standout and flurry to a finish.

10. Eddie Wineland (16-6-1)
Even though George Roop was almost a foot taller than his original opponent Rafael Rebello, Wineland had little trouble outpunching him to a unanimous points win at WEC 46 in another impressive boxing display from the former WEC bantamweight champion.

Other contenders: Antonio Banuelos, Cole Escovedo, Wagnney Fabiano, Akitoshi Tamura, Charlie Valencia.