Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Bantamweight

1. Miguel Torres (35-1)
After years of toiling in Midwestern obscurity, the breakout bantamweight star will enjoy a homecoming. Torres will headline WEC 40 on April 5 in Chicago, where he will take on his biggest challenger to date -- surging Georgia native Brian Bowles.

2. Masakatsu Ueda (8-0-2)
Ueda will make the second defense of his Shooto 132-pound world title on March 20, when he will look to earn a second win over So Tazawa. He dominated Tazawa en route to a third-round submission win in March 2007.

3. Brian Bowles (7-0)
After a meteoric rise to the top of the bantamweight division, Bowles will now be part of the sport’s biggest bantamweight match to date when he takes on divisional ruler Torres on the champion’s home turf at WEC 40.

4. Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1)
While he has been afforded a spot in Dream’s featherweight grand prix, Yamamoto has been done no favors by Dream brass. He will meet leglocker extraordinaire Masakatsu Imanari in the opening round on March 8.

5. Marcos Galvao (6-2-1)
After being initially penciled in to meet American Top Team product Rafael Rebello, “Louro” will instead be placed in decidedly tougher company. Galvao will collide with Greg Jackson scrapper Damacio Page on the WEC 39 undercard March 1 in Texas.

6. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)
Mizugaki stuck to the script, and the overwhelming favorite in Greatest Common Multiple’s Cage Force bantamweight tournament punched out veteran Masahiro Oishi in December’s final to take the title. Now, the former Shooto rookie MVP has his sights set on a WEC deal, though some of his handlers want to see him stay in Japan.

7. Manny Tapia (10-1-1)
After getting thumped in his December title bid against WEC champion and divisional king Torres, “The Mangler” will return April 5 at WEC 40 in Chicago. There, he will take on former Shooto world champion Akitoshi Tamura, who will make his bantamweight debut.

8. Koetsu Okazaki (5-1-1)
Okazaki was quite simply outclassed by the stronger, more technical Ueda in their March 28 title showdown at Shooto “Back to our Roots 8.” What’s next for the Osaka, Japan, native remains uncertain, as he has never been much of a workhorse.

9. Will Ribeiro (10-2)
Following his Dec. 3 loss to Bowles, the talented 25-year-old Brazilian was involved in a motorcycle accident in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which left him with a 50-50 chance to survive. At last report, he was still in an induced coma, but Ribeiro has reportedly made positive progress since the wreck.

10. Chase Beebe (11-3)
After pulling out of his slated Ultimate Warrior Challenge title bout with Mike Easton at the 11th hour on Feb. 21, Beebe will take on former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion Joe Warren in the opening round of Dream’s featherweight grand prix on March 8.

Other contenders: Joseph Benavidez, Dominic Cruz, Noah Thomas, Eddie Wineland, Rani Yahya.