In this paper, a small ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna with two stop bands by a compact electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) cell loaded with two new open meander slots is presented. With the coupling of the EBG cell to the feedline, the stop bands are formed. The designed EBG cell is a mushroom type that has the advantages of being able to independently control the stop bands, high responsiveness selectivity of stop bands, easy switching, the need for fewer EBG cells, and low impact on the working characteristics of the antenna. To have a better understanding of the proposed EBG mechanism, characteristic mode analysis is used. The size reduction of the suggested antenna is obtained by halving the reference antenna relative to the axis of symmetry. The measurement results for −10 dB adaptation are from 2.73 to 13 GHz with stop bands at 3.51 GHz (12.9%) and 5.34 GHz (14.1%). The radiation behavior of the minimized antenna is similar to that of a reference antenna. Minimized UWB antenna with transmission function and group delay with small variations in the operating frequency range is suitable for small multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) and diversity systems.