On Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, two of the best UFC bantamweights ever faced off in a highly anticipated trilogy bout at UFC 333. Just like their previous two bouts, Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili displayed what elite competition at 135 pounds looks like.
The former champ was able to use his relentless wrestling to take an early two-round lead on Yan. However, the current title holder was about to shut down his foe’s attack and slowly work away at Dvalishvili to score a hard-fought unanimous decision win.
Following a classic title fight, here are the all-new UFC bantamweight rankings after UFC 333.
10. Payton Talbott (12-1)
Outside of a loss to top-15 fighter Raoni Barcelos last year, bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott has been outstanding in the UFC since making his promotional debut three years ago. Posting a 6-1 record inside the Octagon with four finishes.
However, he has scored biggest victories in his last two. Getting Ws over former champions Henry Cejudo and Deiveson Figueiredo in his latest.
9. Farid Basharat (16-0)
Since winning a UFC contract on the Contenders Series four years ago, Afghanistan’s Farid Basharat has steadily crept up the UFC bantamweight rankings. After seven fights in the Octagon, “Ferocious” remains undefeated at 16-0. Basharat has a couple of notable wins, but the biggest knock against him is having just one finish in his seven UFC wins.
8. Cory Sandhagen (18-7)
Cory Sandhagen has been many fight fans’ favorite bantamweight for several years. He is gutsy, highly skilled, and rarely in a boring fight. In October 2025, he finally got an elusive title opportunity at UFC 320. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he was just another victim of former bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili.
Sandhagen was back in the Octagon at UFC 329 but was outworked by rising star Mario Bautista. He has now lost three of his last four and is as far outside the title picture as he has ever been.
7. Umar Nurmagomedov (20-2)
Umar Nurmagomedov has been one of the best bantamweights in the world for quite some time. In 2025, he had the chance to be the second Nurmagomedov to win gold in the UFC, but came up just short in a highly competitive clash with champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Following the defeat, he scored a pair of important decision wins over ranked fighters, Mario Bautista and Deiveson Figueiredo. However, with a possible title opportunity on the line, the Russian was shockingly KO’d by top-10 stalwart Song Yadong at UFC Shanghai in August. Ending any hope of a championship fight in 2026.
6. Yadong Song (24-9-1)
Yadong Song has long been seen as a fighter with the potential to fight for gold in the UFC one day. However, after putting a few wins together, he always seems to be halted by a key loss to one or two of the division’s elites. That happened over the last couple of years when he lost matchups against former champions Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan.
However, following his loss to the American earlier this year, the Chinese star has rebounded with big wins. First, a submission victory over former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo in May. Then at UFC Shanghai a few months later, he scored a nasty KO win over former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov. Thrusting him back into the contender conversation.
5. Mario Bautista (18-3)
Since his UFC debut seven years ago, Mario Bautista has steadily climbed the rankings. Scoring wins over top 15 talent like Jose Aldo and Ricky Simon. However, the biggest win of his career came at UFC 329 when he got a chance at revenge against Cory Sandhagen. The man who beat him in his UFC debut.
After three hard-fought rounds, the MMA Lab product earned a decision win and is right on the cusp of a title opportunity in the next year.
4. David Martinez (15-1)
After an outstanding run in Combate Global, where he went 10-1, David Martinez has emerged as a top-10 bantamweight in the No. 1 company in the world, the UFC. After earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, he has reeled off four straight wins in the Octagon. Including a big victory over Marlon Vera in February.
Martinez’s latest win came in September when he scored a W over former ranked featherweight Dan Ige.
3. Sean O’Malley (20-3)
Former champ Sean O’Malley is one of the UFC’s most popular fighters. He has the unique look, charisma, and most importantly, the knockout striking that turns fighters into stars. However, his back-to-back losses to the division’s former champ have pushed “Suga” to the back of the contender line. But he has found new momentum in recent fights.
He was in a must-win situation at UFC 324 if he ever wanted to fight for gold again. In a hard-fought bout, he got a big W against top-10 fighter Yadong Song. O’Malley then followed it up with a TKO win over a surging Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250. The win may have earned him a title shot in his next bout.
2. Merab Dvalishvili (21-6)
Merab Dvalishvili truly is “The Machine.” His relentless wrestling turned him into one of the greatest bantamweights of all time. If there were any doubters after his 2024 win over Sean O’Malley, he silenced them with a decisive rematch victory, as well as two other title defenses.
However, staying at the top is always tough, and his title reign came to a definitive end at UFC 323 at the hands of Petr Yan. While he got another crack at the gold at UFC 333, the Russian again proved to be his kryptonite. Nevertheless, the Georgian remains one of the best bantamweights on the planet.
1. Petr Yan (21-5)
Three straight losses had many wondering if Petr Yan’s days as a top-five bantamweight were over as he entered 2024. However, in a showcase of what makes MMA such a great sport, the former world champion was able to address his shortcomings and get back to being an elite fighter.
That run culminated with a huge revenge win over champion Merab Dvalishvili in a UFC 323 rematch that made “No Mercy” a two-time 135-pound champion. In October, the equally great Dvalishvili got a rubber match with the new champ, but Yan proved why he is UFC Hall of Famer bound with another decision win.