It’s a new year – a good time to reflect on the past, and speculate about what the future may hold. For the UFC, the new year comes amid some turmoil at the highest levels of the sport: with George St. Pierre vacating his title, Anderson Silva suffering an injury that may be career-ending, and Dominic Cruz finally being stripped of the belt that he has not defended in over two years, we could see a lot of new faces wearing the gold in 2014. Here’s a preview of what each divisional title picture will look like in the coming year.
The heavyweight division is cursed. There is no other way to put it. Just when it seems like things are looking up for this weight class, it all falls apart again in a mess of injuries, suspensions, contract disputes, etc – there are always some unforeseen circumstances which put a damper on the HW title picture. Once again, the reigning champion Cain Velasquez is sidelined with a recurrent shoulder injury that will likely keep him out of action for most of year. As for contenders… we have [#5] Fabricio Werdum and [#6] Travis Browne, both on impressive win streaks, facing off at UFC on Fox 11 in April for a chance to take on the champion – whenever he’s ready to return. Beyond that, the division looks fairly bleak. [#2] Junior Dos Santos is 1-2 against the champ; he may still be the next best fighter in the division but will need to win a few fights to earn another title shot. [#3] Daniel Cormier is slimming down to try his luck at 205 lbs; [#4] Antonio Silva is out for most of the year with a PED suspension, and the remainder of the Top 10 with the exception of Mark Hunt are all coming off losses. The upcoming fight between [#11] Stipe Miocic and [#14] Gabriel Gonzaga could determine the next contender after Werdum/Browne, though I won’t wager on the HW title being defended more than once in 2014, but if you want to take the risk BitBet.com is a good choice.
With Anderson Silva losing his middleweight title and GSP vacating the welterweight belt, light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones became UFC’s longest-reigning title holder with 6 consecutive defenses. He will get the opportunity to make it 7 when he faces [#6] Glover Texeira at UFC 172. But before that, two other high-profile bouts are on deck for the 205lbs division: [#2] Rashad Evans vs [#3 HW] Daniel Cormier, and [#4] Alexander Gustafsson vs [#17] Jimi Manuwa. The winner of either fight could make a solid case for the next title shot – or they could face off for the #1 contender eliminator. Meanwhile, [#3] Phil Davis has quietly amassed a 3-fight winning streak, and though he doesn’t currently have a fight scheduled, Davis has to be mentioned among the potential contenders in the upcoming year.
This is where things start to get really interesting. About a year ago, a rumored matchup between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort failed to materialize. Instead Chris Weidman went on to beat Anderson Silva twice in 2013, capturing and defending the middleweight title, while Belfort racked up wins against Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson – all three by head kick KO. Weidman and Belfort are now ranked #1 and #2 in the division, and will finally meet later this year (date not yet scheduled) with gold on the line. With the previous champion [#4] Anderson Silva out for most of the year (if not permanently), there are a few fresh faces waiting to challenge the winner of Weidman/Belfort. [#3] Lyoto Machida vs [#10 LHW] Gegard Mousasi and [#5] Rolando Souza vs [#7] Francis Carmont are the matchups most likely to produce the next middleweight contender. A few other names in the proverbial mix include [#6] Luke Rockhold, [#8] Michael Bisping, [#13] Tim Kennedy, [#14] Thales Leites, [#18] Brad Tavares, and [#20] Yoel Romero Palacio – all of them are coming off big wins and could find themselves in the title picture under the right circumstances.
George St.Pierres’s hiatus from the sport left the welterweight division wide open. While [#1] Johnny Hendricks and [#2] Robbie Lawler will face off at UFC 171 for the vacant title, a number of fighters will be impatiently waiting for the outcome and an opportunity for a shot at the title. [#5] Jake Shields and [#9] Hector Lombard will meet on the undercard of Hendricks-Lawler, with the winner likely getting the contender nod. Looking beyond those two bouts, [#2] Carlos Condit, [#4] Rory MacDonald, [#10] Matt Brown, [#11] Dong Hyun Kim, [#11] Tyrone Woodley, and [#12] Tarec Saffedine will also be looking to make a big impact in 2014.
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