Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz (19-1)
Cruz waited more than four years for his rematch against Urijah Faber; their third meeting will come much quicker. The bantamweights have been tabbed as coaches of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15, which will debut on FX in March and will conclude with an as-yet-unannounced clash.

2. Urijah Faber (26-5)
In July, Faber suffered his first loss at bantamweight in a five-round unanimous decision against UFC champ Dominick Cruz. The “California Kid” will have another opportunity to take the title in 2012, but first he will coach opposite Cruz on the 15th season of UFC reality show “The Ultimate Fighter.”

3. Joseph Benavidez (15-2)
MMA fans and pundits have long believed that Benavidez could be a champion at 125 pounds. The Team Alpha Male representative will have a chance to prove them right when he enters the semifinals of the UFC’s four-man flyweight title tournament against Shooto champ Yasuhiro Urushitani on March 3.

4. Brian Bowles (10-2)
Bowles suffered his first submission loss on Nov. 19 by way of Urijah Faber guillotine choke, and with it was dealt his first setback in the Octagon after wins over Takeya Mizugaki and Damacio Page. For now, the 21-year-old from Georgia moves down a rung in the ever-deepening UFC bantamweight division and takes a step back from a potential rematch with the man who took his WEC title, Dominick Cruz.

5. Scott Jorgensen (13-4)
Since failing in his WEC title bid against Dominick Cruz in December 2010, Jorgensen has been sterling in his new, eight-sided home. After brutally dispatching Ken Stone and outpointing Jeff Curran, “Young Guns” looks to be on the doorstep of another title shot, but that door is blocked by streaking Brazilian Renan Barao, whom Jorgensen will face on Feb. 4.

6. Demetrious Johnson (9-2)
The diminutive “Mighty Mouse” won’t have to answer questions about dropping to flyweight anymore. After suffering a five-round decision loss to Dominick Cruz in an October bid for the UFC bantamweight belt, Johnson is headed down to 125 pounds. First up: No. 1-ranked Ian McCall on March 3 in the semifinals of the UFC’s flyweight title tournament.

7. Renan Barao (27-1, 1 NC)
In November, Barao passed what many felt would be his toughest test to date, blowing through Englishman Brad Pickett at UFC 138. The Brazilian will look to run his remarkable unbeaten streak to 29 on Feb. 4, when he takes on former WEC title challenger Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143 in Las Vegas.

8. Miguel Torres (40-4)
Since being unceremoniously dumped by Zuffa in early December due to his now-infamous “rape van” tweet, Torres has said he will do “whatever it takes” to get back in the UFC’s good graces. The biggest struggle now for Torres, who has won three of his last four, may lie in getting enough high-caliber fights outside of the Octagon.

9. Brad Pickett (20-6)
Pickett’s home-turf UFC debut on Nov. 5 did not go as planned. The trilby-wearing Englishman won “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC 138 in Birmingham, but lost via first-round rear-naked choke to Brazilian contender Renan Barao.

10. Masakatsu Ueda (14-1-2)
Competing outside of Japan for the first time, Ueda moved up to lightweight and outpointed the retiring Royler Gracie on Sept. 14 in Brazil. The former Shooto 132-pound world champ will next bring his talents to America as part of Bellator’s sixth-season bantamweight tournament, but Ueda will first look to run his current winning streak to five when he meets hard-hitting youngster Kyoji Horiguchi on Jan. 8.

Other contenders: Bibiano Fernandes, Zach Makovsky, Michael McDonald, Takeya Mizugaki, Eddie Wineland.

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