MMA or Mixed Martial Arts has become very popular these days. Promotion organizations like UFC, Extreme XC, SRC, Shooto, Pride FC and Dream MMA have all done a lot to promote the sport which combines different styles of martial arts to create a style that is truly and uniquely its own. Following are the 12 official weight classes of MMA.

Bantamweight: This weight class is widely debated. The King of Cage limits its competitors to 145 lb, the World Wrestling Cagefighting to 126-135 lb and the Shootoo to below 123 lb in this class. This weight class’s relative sparsity makes not many organizations maintain this particular division.

Light Heavyweight: Out of the weight classes of MMA, this one refers to 186 to 205 lb of the competitor’s weight. It comes between the heavyweight division and the lighter middleweight division.

Lightweight: MMA Lightweight is a weight class that can vary a lot. Strikeforce and UFC limit its competitors between 146 and 155 lb, Shooto to 143 lb, Dream and SRC to 154 lb, Pride FC to 163 lb and Pancrase to 155 lb.

Featherweight: This is another MMA lightweight division that has more than one distinction. SRC limits its competitors to 143 lb, Pancrase and WEC limits them between 136 to 145 lb, Dream limits its competitors to 139 lb and Shooto limits its competitors to 132 lb.

Flyweight: The Nevada State Athletic Commission combat sport has defined this class of weight in MMA as all competitors of 125 lb and below. In Shooto this weight class has been called the Bantamweight. This division’s relative sparsity has led to few organizations actually including it. The WEC or the World Extreme Cagefighting has announced that it will have a flyweight division from this year onwards.

Middleweight: This is another among the weight classes of MMA which has many categories in it. Strikeforce and UFC limits competitors to 171 to 185 lb, Dream limits its competitors to 185 lb, Pancrase limits it competitors to 185 lb, Pride FC to 205 lb and Shooto to 155 to 167 lb.

Strawweight: This division is also another MMA lightweight class which limits its competitors to 152 lb. Shooto is an organization that hold regular competitions for this weight class.

Super Heavyweight: This is a MMA heavyweight class that is usually used to mean competitors who are above 265 lb in weight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is also known to follow the same rule in MMA heavyweight.

Heavyweight: This is another MMA heavyweight division which takes in competitors who are between 206 and 265 lb in weight. The fact is that though there are controversies regarding the lower weight classes of MMA, MMA heavyweight divisions are quite traditional and similar. This makes it easier to branch them together.

Welterweight: In this weight division, UFC and Strikeforce limit their competitors to 156 to 170 lb, Shooto to 144 to 154 lb, Pride FC to 183 lb, Dream and SRC to 168 lb and Pancrase to 70 lb.