Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Bantamweight

1. Miguel Torres (37-1)
MMA's bantamweight king showed once again why he's so well regarded. In a classic pitched battle in front of a partisan Chicago crowd on April 5, Torres outpointed the outstanding Takeya Mizugaki in a 25-minute battle to retain his WEC title. Next, Torres will defend against undefeated Brian Bowles when the summer rolls around.

2. Masakatsu Ueda (9-0-2)
Shooto's 132-pound world champion wasn't able to replicate his March 2007 submission over So Tazawa in his second title defense on March 20, but he did take an entertaining, dominant decision over the always-game Tazawa to retain his championship.

3. Brian Bowles (7-0)
Bowles' crack at bantamweight king Miguel Torres was postponed due to a back injury. With Torres having successfully knocked off Takeya Mizugaki on April 5, the path is now cleared for Bowles to take on Torres this summer.

4. Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2)
In his stateside debut, Mizugaki gained as much as one fighter could ever hope to in defeat, as he went five brutal and entertaining rounds with pound-for-pound stalwart Miguel Torres, affirming his status as one of the sport's top bantamweights and earning himself a broader fan base in the process.

5. Joseph Benavidez (10-0)
Benavidez's April 5 bout against Jeff Curran served as the coming out party that many had anticipated, as Urijah Faber's top pupil pushed his undefeated mark to 10-0, and signaled his arrival as a top-flight 135-pounder.

6. Will Ribeiro (10-2)
A nightmarish motorcycle accident in December gave Will Ribeiro only a 50-50 chance to live. Fortunately, the Brazilian banger has been recovering well, and is now out of the hospital and back in his home, where he'll continue extensive physiotherapy.

7. Akitoshi Tamura (13-7-2)
The former Shooto world champion showed he made the right decision in opting to cut down to the bantamweight division. He made a successful 135-pound debut on April 5, taking a unanimous nod over former WEC title challenger Manny Tapia.

8. Manny Tapia (10-2-1)
Tapia, who ran up an undefeated record through his first 11 bouts, has now suffered back-to-back losses courtesy of divisional king Miguel Torres, and now Akitoshi Tamura, who outworked him to a unanimous decision victory on April 5.

9. Damacio Page (11-4)
In his March 1 bout with the well-regarded Marcos "Louro" Galvao, Damacio Page showed off the power and ferocity that made him an intriguing prospect, as he crushed the Brazilian in a mere 18 seconds.

10. Marcos Galvao (6-3-1)
"Louro" has disappointed in the WEC following his successes in Brazil and Japan, and was brutally dispatched by Damacio Page in only 18 seconds on March 1.

Other contenders: Chase Beebe, Dominick Cruz, Noah Thomas, Eddie Wineland, Rani Yahya.

*With his second straight bout as a featherweight, formerly fourth-ranked Atsushi Yamamoto exits the bantamweight rankings. Formerly No. 8 ranked Koetsu Okazaki, having not competed for 365 days with no bout scheduled in the next 30, exits due to inactivity. With the additions of Joseph Benavidez, Akitoshi Tamura and Damacio Page, formerly No. 10 ranked Chase Beebe falls outside the top-10.