While most of the best talent is under the UFC banner and Bellator and WSOF have seemed scooped up the rest, there is still plenty of talent yet to be signed by the top promotions of the MMA food chain. These are not necessarily 'free agents' or even prospects, they are top 100 ranked fighters who are navigating the nebulous seas of regional and international fight promotion for whatever reason.
The Bantamweight class is certainly one of the least tapped talent resources of any division; young fighters, tough veterans, and several undefeated prospects are still available for the top promotions. Will anyone on this list be signed by a major US promotion in the near future? Your guess is as good as mine, but they should at least be considered if promotions hope to compete for top talent.
Bantamweights (135lb)
RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
5 | Bibiano Fernandes | 17-3-0 | 34 | ONE FC (Asia) |
21 | Jimmie Rivera | 15-1-0 | ? | Cage Fury FC |
26 | Luke Sanders | 9-0-0 | 29 | RFA |
29 | Luis Alberto Nogueira | 18-3-1 | 32 | Face To Face (Brazil) |
40 | Brett Johns | 10-0-0 | 22 | Titan FC |
41 | Victor Henry | 9-1-0 | 27 | Pancrase (Japan) |
44 | Kevin Croom | 15-6-0 | ? | Shamrock MMA |
47 | Soo-Chul Kim | 10-5-0 | 23 | Road FC (S. Korea) |
51 | Kevin Beligon | 13-4-0 | 27 | ONE FC (Asia) |
52 | Mike Wooten | 9-0-0 | ? | BAMMA (UK) |
53 | Timo-Juhani Hirvikangas | 10-2-0 | 30 | Fight Night (Finland) |
54 | Shintaro Ishiwatari | 19-6-4 | 29 | DEEP (Japan) |
56 | Jonathan Brookins | 15-7-0 | 29 | Pancrase (Japan) |
57 | Dae Hwan Kim | 10-1-1 | 27 | ONE FC (Asia) |
59 | Brian Kelleher | 11-7-0 | 28 | CES |
61 | Toni Tauru | 10-1-1 | ? | Cage Warriors (UK) |
63 | Francisco de Lima Maciel | 10-2-1 | 27 | Team Nogueira (Brazil) |
64 | Austin Lyons | 12-3-0 | 26 | Titan FC |
66 | Masakatsu Ueda | 18-4-2 | 37 | Grandslam (Japan) |
67 | Jeremiah Labiano | 8-2-0 | ? | Tachi Palace |
68 | Daiki Hata | 17-9-7 | 32 | DEEP (Japan) |
69 | Demarte Pena | 10-0-0 | 25 | EFC (S. Africa) |
70 | Toshiaki Kitada | 18-7-4 | 34 | DEEP (Japan) |
71 | Fernando Vieira | 11-2-0 | ? | XFC (Brazil) |
72 | Yoon Jun Lee | 8-2-0 | ? | Road FC (S. Korea) |
Big 3 in Comparison
Promotion | # Top 100 fighters | Champ |
UFC | 42 | TJ Dillashaw |
Bellator | 10 | Joe Warren |
WSOF | 7 | Marlon Moraes |
*All Rankings taken from Fight Matrix at time of writing. Promotions without a country listed next to it are considered US based.