Title Writing: I Coulda Been A Contender 3 "FW, BW"

Hello,

This is the third article in a weekly series meant to track and profile the top contenders to the title in each of the UFC's seven weight classes. Last week I covered the 170 and 155 pound divisions. This week I'm going to finish the divisional overviews with the 145 and 135 pound divisions and then I'll begin profiling individual contenders.

The UFC brought both lighter weight divisions into the fold in 2011 after letting the WEC establish several stars for them to market. By my estimation it has turned out fairly well. According to the "MMAPayout.com Blue Book" UFC 132: Cruz vs Faber, for the 135 pound UFC title was the first numbered card in history to feature a 135 or 145 pound fight. It was the fifth highest PPV this year only behind cards headlined by GSP, Anderson Silva and Jon Jones twice. For some perspective, the fight did better than a pair of lightweight title fights between Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar and Rashad Evans' return to the ring against Tito Ortiz. Champion Dominick Cruz would defend his title and go on to headline a UFC on Versus card in October. As for the 145 division, Jose Aldo fought twice during the year, as the co-main event to Edgar/Maynard III and as the co-main on the year's biggest card, UFC 129: GSP vs Shields. The latest Ultimate Fighter was one of the best seasons in years and has left us with a number of exciting prospects in these divisions, so there will be no shortage of contenders to Cruz and Aldo's crowns.

FEATHERWEIGHT

Jose Aldo has been a great champion since he won the WEC belt in late 2009. He defended the belt twice in less than a year's time and since being brought over to the UFC he has defended it twice more. He is scheduled to headline his first ever card, in his home country of Brazil, against Chad Mendes at UFC 142 in January. A few cards later at 144, in his own home country, Hatsu Hioki has a bought scheduled with Bart Palaszewski. Hioki is ranked quite highly but he had a difficult time winning a decision over George Roop in his UFC debut. Palaszewski on the other hand is coming off a pretty quick knockout victory over Tyson Griffin in what was also his UFC debut. If the fight is good the winner is probably going to get the next title shot.

Dustin Poirier is a guy to keep an eye on for the future. His next fight was supposed to be a dream match-up of doppelgangers against Erik Koch which I was especially looking forward to but Koch is hurt, so instead Poirier matches up with Ricardo Lamas. The fight is just as good though, both Lamas and Poirier share a loss at lightweight to Danny Castillo and have generally beaten everyone else they've faced. At this weight division they are a combined 5-0 with three finishes. Poirier is young and talented, something the UFC has found promotional success with in the past, and he is likely a win or two away from getting a real look.

The division is actually a little thin right now in terms of challengers with legitimate title claims. The fourth through eighth ranked fighters are either in another promotion or have recently lost to Aldo, with the exception of Diego Nunes. He is out of the running in a Josh Koscheck/Jon Fitch scenario, a sort of number one partner to Aldo at Nova Uniao. With Poirier waiting in the wings, Palaszewski and Hioki take center stage to determine the next challenger. With home court advantage Hioki will look much more comfortable and should be able to pull off a submission victory.

Top Contender: Hatsu Hioki

BANTAMWEIGHT

The 135 pound division is in a fairly similar situation as 145. Dominick Cruz has defended his championship five times since taking it 21 months ago. That's an impressive pace to fight at. The dearth of challengers is shown by his next fight, a trilogy match up against Urijah Faber. I think rematches are a little bit overdone in the UFC. The argument is that there are only so many top guys so when two top guys fight, if they both get a few wins it's just the way it goes that they have to fight again but I can't help but think they are missing the opportunity to build other talent. Cruz didn't need to fight right away and Faber has other match ups that look interesting. Scott Jorgensen would have been a good fight for Faber, but instead Faber gets TUF with Cruz and the UFC decides to use Jorgensen to test out Renan Barao. That sounds silly when you consider the 27 fight unbeaten streak that Barao is on but he has only been in the UFC for two fights and with the WEC for two fights before that. Jorgensen is the classic UFC calibre competition that you just don't find in any regional organization in the world and if Barao can get through him then he'll be at the front of the line for sure. I would have loved to see if Miguel Torres could get another win or two, since I see him as a real viable challenger for the title, but he chose the wrong time to give Dana White an opportunity to make an example of someone, something the president has shown himself to be more than willing to do on occasion (Paul Daley and Nate Marquardt come to mind). It's a shame we won't get to see him make a title run in 2012.

Top Contender: Renan Barao

Next week I'll be profiling Alistair Overeem on the eve of his UFC debut against Brock Lesnar.

Thanks for reading.