Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently fighting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. Henderson is known for his aggressive style and his ability to escape from deep submission attempts. As of March 2012, Henderson is ranked as the #1 lightweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.

Henderson was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to a Korean American mother and an African American father. He was raised in Federal Way, Washington. He attended Decatur High School from 1998 to 2001. Ben became a part of the high school's wrestling team. After graduating from high school, he attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska and graduated in 2006 with a double major in criminal justice and sociology. While attending Dana College, Henderson was on the wrestling team, and was twice named an NAIA All-American. Henderson is a proud Christian, and uses his fighting to share his beliefs. He is known to quote scripture after bouts, and walks into each fight to a gospel song.

James Christopher Varner (born October 12, 1984) is a mixed martial artist who fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former WEC Lightweight champion and holds notable victories over Donald Cerrone, Edson Barboza, and Drew Fickett.

Varner competed twice in the UFC. His first appearance was against lightweight veteran Hermes Franca, which Varner lost via submission (armbar) in round 3. His final appearance was against formerly undefeated Jason Gilliam, which he won via first round submission (rear naked choke). After this win, Varner transferred to the WEC.

Varner successfully defended his WEC Lightweight Championship belt against the previously undefeated Marcus Hicks on August 3, 2008.

He retained his title on January 25, 2009 against Donald Cerrone at WEC 38. The fight was highly competitive and won the Fight of the Night award. However, the fight was stopped prematurely in the fifth round when Cerrone hit Varner's temple with an illegal knee while Varner was still on the ground. Varner was given time to recover, but he was unable to continue, noting that he had double vision and had sustained a broken hand.

Anthony Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division and is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Pettis has made a name for himself mainly fighting in his home state of Wisconsin. He is a former fighter for the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), where he was the last WEC Lightweight Champion before merging the promotion into the UFC.

Born to Eugene Pettis Jr. and Annette Garcia, Anthony Pettis grew up in the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin along with his older brother Ray Pettis and younger brother Sergio "Lil' Showtime" Pettis. Pettis is of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, his grandfather Anglicized the family name from Perez to Pettis, to avoid discrimination. Pettis attended Dominican High School.

Anthony "Showtime" Pettis made his professional MMA debut in December 2007. He compiled an undefeated record of 8-0 in shows all based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin before debuting with the WEC. Pettis also has a professional kickboxing background.

Lyoto Carvalho Machida (Portuguese pronunciation: [liˈotu maˈʃidɐ]; born May 30, 1978) is a Japanese-Brazilian mixed martial artist from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil who fights as a light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and is currently ranked as the #6 light heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog, MMAWeekly and Yahoo! Sports.

Machida was born in the city of Salvador as the third son of the highly ranked head of the Brazilian branch of the Japan Karate Association, Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida. Yoshizo moved to Brazil from Japan when he was 22 years old. There he met and married Lyoto's mother, Ana Claudia. Growing up in Belém, Lyoto began training in karate at the age of three and earned his black belt at the age of thirteen. He also began training in sumo at twelve and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at fifteen. He won a number of amateur karate tournaments, including the 2001 Pan American Karate tournament.

He was the runner-up in the 2000 Brazilian Sumo Championships in the 115 kg division. As an adult, he became Brazilian Champion twice under Taylor Swanson, and placed second in the South American Championship. He defeated American black belt Jiu-Jitsu fighter Rafael Lovato Jr. at L.A. Sub X. In addition to his sumo and karate achievements, he has a college degree in Physical Education. Lyoto's brother, Chinzô, is a Shotokan vice-champion (Australia 2006), losing only to number-one ranked Shotokan master Koji Ogata. Lyoto and Chinzô fought in a Karate Final 10 years ago in which Lyoto gave Chinzô a cheek scar that still exists today. His other brothers include Kenzo Machida, a TV journalist for one of Brazil's biggest TV stations, Take Machida and adopted brother Francisco Machida.

Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist of Mexican descent, currently competing for the UFC in the welterweight and lightweight divisions. He is the Ultimate Fighter Season 5 champion and has amassed victories in Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting.

Diaz is a graduate of Tokay High School in Lodi, California and holds a black belt in Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. He is the younger brother of former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. Diaz is affiliated with the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Lodi, California, where he trains under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie. Diaz received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on April 6, 2012 from Cesar Gracie. He is currently ranked #7 lightweight fighter in the world.

He was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 5 show, of course exclusively featuring lightweights. He fought on Jens Pulver's team. In the preliminary round, Diaz defeated Rob Emerson by submission; in the quarterfinals he defeated fellow Team Pulver teammate Corey Hill via triangle choke in the first round. In the semifinals, he defeated Team Penn member Gray Maynard by submission, advancing to the finals where he faced Manvel Gamburyan.