The PFL bantamweight title will be decided in Lyon on 19 December 2026, where Frenchman Taylor Lapilus, ranked #3 at 25-4-0, meets the unbeaten #1 Mitchell McKee, 10-0-0. It pairs the most experienced name in the top three with the one who has never lost.
PFL bantamweight rankings
Here is the full top ten as it stands on 26 October 2026.
| Rank | Fighter | Record |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Mitchell McKee | 10-0-0 |
| #2 | Renat Khavalov | 12-0-0 |
| #3 | Taylor Lapilus | 25-4-0 |
| #4 | Sergio Pettis | 25-8-0 |
| #5 | Lazaro Dayron | 11-0-1 |
| #6 | Sarvarjon Khamidov | 18-1-0 |
| #7 | Magomed Magomedov | 22-6-0 |
| #8 | Marcirley Alves | 15-6-0 |
| #9 | Daniel Marcos | 19-1-1 |
| #10 | Naoki Inoue | 21-4-0 |
Three of the ten have never lost a fight: McKee, Khavalov and Dayron, whose only blemish is a draw. A fourth, Khamidov, has a single defeat on his record of 18-1-0.
Lapilus against McKee for the belt
McKee is 28, American, and has won 10 fights with half of them ending early, a finish rate of 50 percent. Lapilus is 34 and has the longer résumé by a distance, with a record of 25-4-0 and a finish rate of 44 percent. He climbed one place in the latest ranking, while McKee and Khavalov, both 28, held their spots at #1 and #2.
Khavalov, the #2, is not in that fight. He is 12-0-0 with a 58 percent finish rate, the best of the top three.
Who is chasing
Khamidov is the form fighter of the group. The Tajik, 29, rose one place to #6 after stopping Rafael do Nascimento with punches in round 1, at 1:49, at PFL Chicago on 16 October 2026. Before that he submitted Justin Wetzell in round 2, at 4:11, in San Diego on 27 June. His finish rate is 61 percent.
Daniel Marcos has the most dramatic recent result in the division. At PFL Tampa on 22 August 2026 he beat Magomed Magomedov by TKO in round 3 with 0:11 on the clock, and he now sits at #9 with Magomedov dropping a place to #7. Magomedov's 64 percent finish rate is the second highest on the list, behind Alves at 67 percent.
Pettis, 33, fell a place to #4 and has the lowest finish rate of the ten at 32 percent. Inoue also slipped one spot to #10. Dayron, 34, is 11-0-1 and beat Raufeon Stots at PFL New York on 31 July 2026.
The last 12 months
Across the past 12 months the division has produced 39 bouts and 18 finishes. Submissions have been especially quick. Cobey Fehr choked Rosario Romero with a rear naked choke in 0:58 of round 1 on 16 October 2026, and Reda Abdellaoui did the same to Salim Mhamdi at PFL Africa 3 on 10 October 2026 in 2:11. Do Nascimento had submitted Lewis McGrillen-Evans in round 2 at PFL Austin on 18 July 2026, before losing to Khamidov in Chicago.
Not every card ended with a finish. Javid Basharat beat Movsar Ibragimov by unanimous decision in Tampa, and Sean Gauci took a unanimous decision over Allan Begosso in New York.
What is booked next
Pettis returns first. He faces Joji Goto at PFL Dubai on 14 November 2026, on the same card where McGrillen-Evans meets Nawras Abzakh. A win keeps Pettis within reach of the title picture. The Lyon card then carries three more bantamweight bouts besides the main event: Baris Adiguzel against Liam Gittins, Brandon Brachet against Adam Meskini and Jan Ciepłowski against Mauricio Partida.
In this story
This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.