Dan Ige’s Bantamweight Debut Extends the Slide Without Solving Its Cause

Dan Ige’s attempt to reset his career at bantamweight ended with another entry in the loss column. David Martinez defeated him by unanimous decision at Noche UFC on Sept. 12, extending Ige’s skid to three fights.

Bloody Elbow reported that Ige committed seven months to the move before making his 135-pound debut. That investment raises the stakes of the result, but it does not answer the question bettors will face if Ige remains in the division: Did the cut materially change his performance, or did a new opponent simply beat him over 15 minutes?

The available evidence cannot separate those possibilities yet. What it does show is that changing divisions did not immediately correct Ige’s recent inability to win decisive moments.

Three losses, but not one repeatable failure

Ige’s current slide started with a unanimous-decision loss to Patricio Pitbull in July 2025. Melquizael Costa then stopped him in the first round in February 2026, the only time Ige has been finished across 23 archived bouts. Martinez completed the three-fight run with another unanimous decision.

Those methods matter. A losing streak can create a broad narrative of decline, but the underlying results do not identify one clean mechanism. Two opponents beat Ige on the scorecards; one stopped him early. The sequence does not show repeated late-round collapses, a series of submissions or a cluster of knockouts.

It also follows a performance that complicates any straight-line decline argument. Ige knocked out Sean Woodson in the third round in April 2025, one fight before the skid began. His last five now contain that finish, three decision losses and one first-round stoppage loss.