#1 Contenders at LW, WW and MW
In 3 UFC weight classes - LW, WW and MW - the champion is expected to fight outside his division. #1 Contenders in each category must either fight in the meantime or sit out for several months. Most will sensibly opt to fight.
The next decision is whether to pit contenders against cans in order not to jeopardize their title shot, or whether to pit them against other contenders in legitimate #1 Contender fights. It's becoming increasingly clear that there is little upside to fighting a can and risking defeat to an unknown. Werdum's knockout is a case in point. There is an opportunity to set up a round of #1 Contender fights in each division.
At Lightweight, Penn is set to fight GSP in January. The #1 Contender is widely held to be Florian. The 2 other top fighters, Sherk and Stevenson, have already had title shots and lost decisively to Penn. A victorious Florian might choose to wait until Penn was ready to fight him. If he chose to fight, Diaz would be a good option. Unlike Florian, Stevenson and Diaz are more than one win away from a title shot. In other words, they'd each need another victory beyond Florian to qualify for a shot.
At Welterweight, the #1 contender is Alves. He should fight his original opponent, Sanchez, while biding his time for a shot at GSP. If Sanchez won, he would need another victory before a title shot.
At Middleweight, Silva needs a break from the division and should take some fights against Top 10 Light Heavyweights. The best-ranked Middleweights, Henderson and Franklien, are slated to fight, but it is unclear whether they will fight as Middleweights or Light Heavyweights. The injured #! contender is Okami. If he is healed and eager to fight, he could take on Lutter. If Okami is not ready to fight, Bisping could be set against the TUF killer, Macdonald.
At Light Heavyweight, A. Silva should be thrown in against Liddell for an epic match.
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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I agree that Bisping/Okami makes sense, but doesn’t it seem more likely that Bisping will have to wait to fight whoever coaches the USA TUF team at the end of next TUF season?
That means we won’t see Bisping fight for another… what?….8 months?
by nandez44 on Oct 26, 2008 9:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Okami is fighting Lister in December.
So I would assume that provided Okami gets past Lister, Silva would fight Okami in maybe March of 09, with a lightheavyweight bout thrown in for good measure in January.
Hell, the UFC will probably go and counter program Affliction with three UFC events in a row. Silva vs. Liddell on free TV would completely destroy Affliction. But I don’t know if they’d be willing to sacrifice the PPV buys.
by SamCupitt on Oct 26, 2008 11:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Bisping/Silva???
When is Bisping going to be ready for Silva? What do you guys think?
by ANance on Oct 27, 2008 6:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
When he earns a title shot
It doesn’t matter who has the title. If a fighter earns a shot, he should get that shot whether its Silva or Joe Blow with the belt.
by mythbuster on Oct 27, 2008 9:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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