Who's next for the bantamweight title?

Champion: Petr Yan. Next title fight (official): Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333: Volkanovski vs Evloev, Sat 24 Oct 2026.

Updated 2 Oct 2026 (UAE time) · Percentages are NextSmash model estimates, not facts or betting advice.

Bantamweight rankings and next fights

Media Panel board on ufc.com, checked 1 Oct 2026, with the Meta rank alongside. Champion plus Media top 15; risers are flagged inside the top 15. Next re-check: after UFC 332 (3 Oct). Ranks 16–30 are unofficial: a NextSmash formula, not a UFC ranking (see About).

UFC official rankings · champion + Media panel top 15, from UFC.com
C	Petr Yan 20-5-0 · Russia · next: Merab Dvalishvili 92%
1	Merab Dvalishvili 21-5-0 · Georgia · next: Petr Yan 92%
2	Sean O'Malley 20-3-0 · United States · next: Yan–Dvalishvili winner 15%
3	Song Yadong 24-9-1 · China · next: Yan–Dvalishvili winner 20%
4	Umar Nurmagomedov 20-2-0 · Russia · next: Mario Bautista 16%
5	Mario Bautista 18-3-0 · United States · next: Umar Nurmagomedov 16%
6	Cory Sandhagen 18-7-0 · United States · next: Aiemann Zahabi 12%
7	Aiemann Zahabi 14-3-0 · Canada · next: Cory Sandhagen 12%
8	David Martinez Riser 15-1-0 · Mexico · next: Cory Sandhagen 10%
9	Deiveson Figueiredo 25-7-1 · Brazil · next: Payton Talbott 92%
10	Marlon Vera 24-12-1 · Ecuador · next: Raul Rosas Jr. 16%
11	Raul Rosas Jr. Riser 13-1-0 · Mexico · next: Marlon Vera 16%
12	Payton Talbott 11-1-0 · United States · next: Deiveson Figueiredo 92%
13	Farid Basharat Riser 16-0-0 · Afghanistan · next: Raoni Barcelos 18%
14	Raoni Barcelos 22-6-0 · Brazil · next: Farid Basharat 18%
15	Marcus McGhee 11-2-0 · United States · next: Anthony Romero 92%
NextSmash unofficial ranks 16–30 · our formula, not a UFC ranking · how it works
16	Elijah Smith Riser Unofficial rank 10-1-0 · United States · next: Davey Grant 92%
17	Cody Haddon Riser Unofficial rank 9-1-0 · Australia · next: Jakub Wiklacz 15%
18	Aleksandre Topuria Riser Unofficial rank 7-1-0 · Georgia · next: Santiago Luna 92%
19	Jakub Wiklacz Riser Unofficial rank 18-3-2 · Poland · next: Cody Haddon 15%
20	Juan Diaz Riser Unofficial rank 16-1-1 · Peru · next: Adrian Yanez 92%
21	Hecher Sosa Unofficial rank 15-1-0 · Spain · next: Cody Haddon 9%
22	Rafael Estevam Unofficial rank 14-1-0 · Brazil · next: Hecher Sosa 9%
23	Ethyn Ewing Riser Unofficial rank 10-2-0 · United States · next: Benardo Sopaj 9%
24	Benardo Sopaj Unofficial rank 13-3-0 · Albania · next: Ethyn Ewing 9%
25	Colby Thicknesse Unofficial rank 9-1-0 · Australia · next: Ethyn Ewing 6%
26	Jean Matsumoto Unofficial rank 18-2-0 · Brazil · next: Colby Thicknesse 6%
27	Borislav Nikolić Unofficial rank 17-2-0 · Serbia · next: Bryce Mitchell 7%
28	Santiago Luna Unofficial rank 8-1-0 · Mexico · next: Aleksandre Topuria 92%
29	Abdul Hussein Riser Unofficial rank 16-2-0 · Finland · next: Bryce Mitchell 15%
30	Bryce Mitchell Unofficial rank 19-3-0 · United States · next: Abdul Hussein 15%

Ranked in the Meta top 15 only:

Montel Jackson Meta #12 · Meta top 15 only, not on the Media board
Bryce Mitchell Meta #15 · Unofficial #30 here

Booked bantamweight fights

UFC 332: Silva vs Wang · Sat 3 Oct 2026 · Deiveson Figueiredo vs Payton Talbott
UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Duncan · Sat 10 Oct 2026 · Malcolm Wellmaker vs Otari Tanzilovi
UFC Fight Night Edmonton: Buckley vs Malott · Sat 17 Oct 2026 · Louis Jourdain vs Timmy Cuamba, Chad Anheliger vs Steven Koslow, Cody Chovancek vs SuYoung You
UFC 333: Volkanovski vs Evloev · Sat 24 Oct 2026 · Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili
UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs Brady · Sat 7 Nov 2026 · Davey Grant vs Elijah Smith
UFC 334: Gane vs Hokit · Sat 14 Nov 2026 · Adrian Yanez vs Juan Diaz
UFC Fight Night Qatar: Procházka vs Stirling · Sat 21 Nov 2026 · Aleksandre Topuria vs Santiago Luna

Other divisions

Flyweight · Featherweight · Lightweight · Welterweight · Middleweight · Light Heavyweight · Heavyweight · Women's Strawweight · Women's Flyweight · Women's Bantamweight