is taking care of the cadre of possible contenders for the MW title.

As of their last wins, both Maia and Marquart (sp?) were both in position to have legit title shots. I understand the concern about selling another title fight between Silva and a brazilian BJJ blackbelt (I also understand they are very different fighters, but selling that is another matter), however having them fight each other basically destroys a legitimate contender for little reason.

The idea of pitting Hendo against that fight’s winner is even worse.

Right now people complain about the lack of contenders at MW, but part of the problem is the UFC not shepparding those possible contenders as well as possible.

I am always amazed at how people have no concept of what this is.

Brock: The Fedor fight has to happen, and i would assume they have only a couple of months to get it set up in time for the Dec. Las Vegas show or the Superbowl weekend show. Dana has been patient about Fedor for a long time so it suprises me that he was so open about bringing him in after 100 since he still has a big hurdle in Barnett before UFC would consider putting pride (no pun intended) away and putting ink to paper. Carwin/Cain are fightin in late October so it would be a short turnaround for them, but an injury free winner would set up the only other viable opponent this year for Brock… That is unless one highlight reel LHK from Cro-Cop (hell, or Dos) changes things.

GSP: Not sure the UFC will want him to take a year off to bulk up right now for Silva. Just because Swick/Kampman and others arent huge threats to GSP doesnt mean they arent deserving of a shot. Im a huge GSP fan and i feel like he’d roll them both up, but lets keep the title situatiuon fluid, and give the guys who are working their way up a chance to prove themselves. The UFC wont be complaining if GSP adds some KO highlights to his resume since his last 3 fight have come without a finish. Just because it looks like he’ll be ruling the division for the forseeable future doesnt mean you shut the division down.

Hendo: Wow. How quickly things change. He KTFO’s wand and hold both Pride belts, then its right back to “Decision Dan.” Then he KTFO’s Bisbing and his stock is right back up through the celling. IMO he has earned a re-match with the Spider. It’d be tough to find a fighter with 3 more quality wins that Franklin, Phalares, and Bisbing combined with his already legendary reputation. Even if the outcome is similar to the first fight, fans will be brainwashed by fight time because the UFC will have shown us the KO of Bisbing 1000000 times by then. Plus, the Silva/Griffen fight may reveal another chink in the Spider’s armor giving Hendo fans even more hope. If not the Spider then who knows? In what could be Silva’s liast fights Id like to see him get Maia AND Hendo again so i wouldnt want to wait for a Hendo/winner of Maia/Nate fight first, it would only take away a legitimate future contender.

Bisbing: My guess is the UFC throws him a bone… make that a few bones, I dobt he’ll get anyone super-dangerous, as the UFC wants him to come back as the face of MMA in the UK. But me, im a blood-thirsty Wand fan so i wanna see that fight as soon as they find the other peices of Mike’s jaw.

Alves: May go the way of Dan Henderson and churn out 2-3 more impressive victories on his way to a re-match. The WW division is full of competitive guys, the problem is there is only one WORLD CLASS guy in GSP. So there are plenty of interesting matchups for Alves. Id love to eventually see a Hardy/Alves slugfest.

Mir: My advice, forget about Brock for a while… a long while. If Brock gets the Cain/Carwin winner or Fedor, give Mir Coture. Gabe Gonzaga would be interesting as well since he can hang submission-wise. Im sure Mir will hunt for a rubber-match but if i were him id put that energy into stringing together a few more wins. He’s super-confident so he shoud have no problem working his way back up the ladder, but it will be interesting to see if this loss deflates him and we see the mentally fragile Frank Mir again

Lesner-winner of Cain/Carwin, which I think will be Carwin and I also believe that is what UFC officials are hoping for. Beyond that, Affliction needs to fail miserably or do very well and make Fedor either more available or more popular, then come to the UFC. I don’t think Fedor is HUGE in the US yet, but I do think there is more interest in him than he is given credit for. MMA fans know who Fedor is and what he is about, more casual fans have heard of him and there is an air of mystery surrounding him (to them). I think he would be a big draw for the UFC, especially after he fights once there.

Mir needs to get either the loser of the Cain/Carwin fight or Couture if he loses to Nog and keeps fighting. A win keeps him in the conversation, a loss makes him Gonzaga. Hey, how about Mir/Gonzaga? 2 good BJJ guys who also like to bang a little? Could be interesting!

GSP gets Swick if he beats Kampmann or a superfight with Silva if he beats Forrest, perhaps both depending on scheduling.

Henderson should fight the winner of Almeida/Grove for the next title shot after Maia/Marquardt. I’m sure UFC is hoping the Maia/Marquardt fight will be amazing, which I think it very well may be.

Just some thoughts…

Lesnar:
Winner of Carwin/Velasquez or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira if he beats Couture decisively.

Mir:
Loser of Carwin/Velasquez or loser of Couture/Nogueira. Throw in winner of dos Santos/Filipovic for good measure.

Henderson:
No Akiyama. Either Anderson Silva or Nate Marquardt/Demian Maia winner. Give Akiyama Bisping.

St. Pierre:
Winner of Swick/Kampmann. Considering his long layoff (next fight won’t be until 2010 supposedly), he should get Anderson Silva if he beats Swick/Kampmann. If not, a lower tier, but contending Middleweight like Bisping, Akiyama, Henderson, Maia or Marquardt.

If GSP is going to take a year to gain weight and test the waters at WW, I think they should introduce an interim title, or he should just give up the WW belt for the sake of the division. I’m not a huge fan of superfights that hold up the divisions. I was so glad when GSP beat the tar out of BJ, simply because that meant we’d finally get some LW title fights. However, I do love watching superfights, just cause it’s a thrill to see two P4P fighters go at it. This is why if GSP is going up, he should leave the belt behind. I think this could rejuvenate the WW division.

Regarding Lesnar: No real desire to see him pound on either Couture or Nog. Definitely give him the winner of Carwin and Cain. (Though I’m pulling for Carwin, simply because I think he’s got a better shot at dropping the beast).

Hendo needs to fight Silva. I still think he gets beat, but he’s won his last three against tough opponents. What more does he need to do? The Hendo / Sexyama idea is just about the dumbest one I’ve heard in a while. Sexyama needs to fight a couple more gate keepers to build him up a bit. Let him get accustomed to the cage.

His plodding standup game is based almost entirely on taking damage to deliver his deadly right hand. He’d have as much luck with that against Silva as he would against a firing squad.

I think this is the right perspective that needs to be used more in determining challengers to overwhelming champions.

If you are simply going by who has a chance to beat someone like GSP or A. Silva, it will never seem like someone should have a title shot.