5 best-unranked UFC fighters at bantamweight
It has been a somewhat confusing year for the UFC bantamweight division. Much of this stems from UFC 259 when Aljamain Sterling became UFC champion after being unable to recover from an illegal knee from former champ, Petr Yan.
Aljamain Sterling won the UFC bantamweight championship off a DQ after this illegal knee by Petr Yan #UFC259 https://t.co/eOiJMPO7Bg
Sterling's disqualification victory saw him win the belt, a first for a UFC champion. He has since struggled with injury issues which have rendered him unable to defend his title.
Yan, meanwhile, was victorious over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 to win the interim UFC bantamweight championship. This has created an interesting situation at the top of the division given that Sterling holds the title too.
This intrigue exists right the way down the division as there are plenty of established stars at lower spots in the rankings. For example, former champions Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz are ranked No.5 and No.10 respectively.
This continues right the way down the division where unranked fighters like Sean O'Malley regularly go back and forth with the likes of Petr Yan over social media.
Indeed, there are a number of incredibly talented unranked bantamweights in the UFC who could be set for enormous years in 2022 should they keep up their momentum.
Here are five of the best unranked bantamweights in the UFC today:
#5. Casey Kenney
Casey Kenney likely popped on to fans' radar when he fought Dominick Cruz at UFC 259. While some felt this was a mismatch on paper given Cruz's credentials, Kenney put on a very strong performance as he lost via split decision.
While Kenney suffered a second straight loss at UFC 265 to Song Yadong, this was another tight split decision loss against a ranked fighter in the division. Kenney's only other UFC loss was to the surging No.6 ranked Merab Dvalishvili.
Casey Kenney climbed the cage after he lost a split decision to Song Yadong at #UFC265 https://t.co/i5kb0m2z1T
Besides these tough losses, Kenney has also enjoyed plenty of success. He is a former interim flyweight and bantamweight champion in LFA, and his UFC record still stands at a very respectable 5-3.
Kenney still has plenty of good years in him as he's only 30 and he certainly looks like a good bet to break into those rankings in 2022. Especially considering that as he's taking steps up in competition in each fight, he only looks better.