Can Brock Lesnar remain champion against the UFC's top three challengers?

View full size photo »

For many fans, UFC 110 provided answers to those hard to prove questions regarding Cain Velasquez, Wanderlei Silva, and Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic. Could Wanderlei gain some of that speed and explosiveness that he once used to dominate PRIDE? Was Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic truly going to show the world that he wasn't inching closer to retirement? Would Cain Velasquez put himself into the upper-tier of the UFC's heavyweight division? While Wanderlei and Mirko are important figures in pulling in fan interest, the intriguing answer that Cain Velasquez provided at UFC 110 has created a new wave of questions that should put a big smile on the UFC's face.

Interestingly enough, Cain's impressive finish of PRIDE legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is now the foundation of the thinking that Velasquez is now ready to fight for the UFC's heavyweight crown. Dana White confirmed at the pre-fight press conference at UFC 110 that the winner could earn an immediate title shot, but the UFC likely has their sights set on some more lucrative fights before the young American Kickboxing Academy member gets his shot.

All the speculation hinges on the outcome of the UFC 111 showdown between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin. Dana White's appearance on ESPN cemented the possibility that Velasquez may earn a shot immediately, but the winner of Mir vs. Carwin would likely meet Lesnar in July at UFC 116. If the winner is injured during the fight at UFC 111 or during his training camp for UFC 116, Velasquez will be vaulted into the spotlight as the challenger.

While many fans would say that the UFC's heavyweight division isn't the most talented or exciting division in the mixed martial arts world, it does have the fighters to produce the most revenues. It also has the potential to smash records in the coming months and potentially the next couple of years with some very intriguing battles -- most of which involve the UFC's cash cow in crossover star Brock Lesnar.

Three potential mega-fights include Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, and Cain Velasquez with each fight having its own set of unique attributes that could bring fans in droves. Velasquez's most recent destruction of Nogueira was both impressive and showed off an improving striking game that was thought to be a deficiency that would put him at a heavy disadvantage against Lesnar. Now, that thinking has changed among fans.

Mir is the masterful version of an old school Tito Ortiz in regards to his trash talking ways. He's been more than confident in his abilities in the past, and he's managed to silence critics with impressive victories over Nogueira, Lesnar, and Kongo. He also happens to hold the key to an eventual rubber match with Brock Lesnar, and he's been touting an increased pace to his weight program that has bulked him up considerably, a move that can be correlated to the beatdown he received from Lesnar at UFC 100. Lesnar also happens to be eating up the talk that Mir has been throwing around as of late in regards to a potential fight down the road, a sure sign that the UFC could leverage the hype both men are creating for themselves.

The last option is Shane Carwin, a fighter who is slightly smaller than Lesnar in size. Some have said that he might be the only fighter in the division who can match Lesnar's strength, but he also has MMA's ultimate x-factor in explosive knockout power that produced a surprising knockout of Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96 with what seemed like a straight jab. Lesnar and Carwin have also been embroiled in a war of words with each other, although it hasn't surpassed the hateful words Mir and Lesnar have exchanged.

Obviously, the fans' love-hate relationship with Lesnar and his WWE-built self-promotion personality also bring a lot of pay-per-view buys to the table. Tito Ortiz was able to leverage fans loving to hate him in the past, but Lesnar could be soaring to a whole new level as he has crossover fans also buying into his MMA career.

The ideal situation would be for the UFC to capitalize on all of these match-ups, a feat that would bring three lucrative pay-per-views with the inclusion of a solid supporting fight and a few intriguing main card fights. Mir vs. Carwin should be a fantastic supporter of St. Pierre vs. Hardy on the 27th of March with the winner battling at UFC 116. If Lesnar happens to dispatch of his opponent quickly, the UFC could vault Velasquez into contention and schedule a late year run for Velasquez.

If Velasquez can win, Lesnar could battle the loser of Carwin vs. Mir. If Mir is the opponent, it will surely garner huge interest. If Carwin is his opponent, it should gain good interest if the UFC hypes Carwin's knockout power and adds a nice supporting headliner to the card.

The massive revenues that the UFC is obviously hoping to bring will rely heavily on whether they can produce some great new prospects and solid supporting fights for all of these cards. This spring doesn't look too shabby in terms of revenue either. Silva-Maia, Penn-Edgar, and Hughes-Gracie should produce solid buys as well as UFC 113 in which Machida-Shogun II and Koscheck- Daley will take place with a rumor gaining steam that Kimbo Slice will fight on the card.

The UFC's handling of the logistics of moving each heavyweight around in the division could create one of the most fruitful years in terms of the UFC heavyweight division providing huge revenues, and Brock Lesnar is the focal point of those revenues. It should be an interesting rest of the year at the top of the food chain.