Power Ranking the Next Seven UFC Fight Cards

One of the UFC's busiest seasons yet is getting ready to kick off and if you're like me, you can't wait. Seven fights in the next three months and four of them on free TV. Injuries have attempted to ruin this huge summer of UFC events, but it has been unsuccessful as many of the most anticipated matchups in UFC history still remain.

Coming off the heels of a very explosive UFC 146 card featuring a main card of all heavyweights, The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale that saw Martin Kampmann upset Jake Ellenberger and one of the greatest Ultimate Fighter stories in history come full circle as Mike Chiesa won the Ultimate Fighter, it's now time to start looking forward to the next seven UFC cards.

I'll even rank them for you so you know which fights you want to see and which fights you absolutely can't miss.

7. UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman (July 11th, 2012 in San Jose, California)

UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman starts off this list, and it's not a bad card in any aspect. It just lacks that big name that all the other cards on this list feature.

Just a few months ago, Mark Munoz was in title contention and found himself in a number one contenders bout against Chael Sonnen scheduled for UFC on Fox 2, but Munoz soon found himself injured and was forced off the card and replaced by Michael Bisping.

Now, Munoz will face off against undefeated top middleweight prospect Chris Weidman. Weidman stepped in to face former Middleweight Championship contender Demian Maia when Bisping jumped up on the card to fill in for Munoz against Sonnen. Although, the performance wasn't overly impressive, it was a still a big win for Weidman. Now, he finds himself in the biggest fight in his young career against Munoz.

This card took a big shot this week when co-main event fighter Brandon Vera was removed from the card to face Shogun Rua in the main event at UFC on Fox in August. Also, Jon Fitch was forced out of his fight with Aaron Simpson due to an injury. 

The card is missing some big names, but there are some good matchups on the card such as a bantamweight bout between T.J. Dillashaw and Vaughan Lee and an exciting lightweight matchup between Rafael dos Anjos and Anthony Njokuani.

6. UFC 147 (June 23rd, 2012 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil)

UFC 147 was billed as one of the most anticipated events in UFC history when it was announced that Dana White and the UFC had plans to hold the event in an outdoor soccer stadium that would feature one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, but that was not to be.

Due to scheduling conflicts, the event was unable to take place at a soccer stadium, therefore, the Silva-Sonnen rematch was scratched and moved to a later event. The main event then became Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort.

Then, about two weeks ago Vitor Belfort was forced to pull out of the event due to a broken hand and was replaced by Rich Franklin and now the main event will be a 190lbs catch-weight bout. 

Heavyweight contenders Fabricio Werdum and Mike Russow will serve as the co-main event.

Another thing making this card a big deal is the finals in the featherweight and middleweight tournaments of the Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. In my opinion, the participants in this season are  the best group of fighters in the history of the Ultimate Fighter.

5. UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida (June 22nd, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey)

UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida is shaping up to be an awesome card and it all starts and ends with the main event.

Two of the most face paced fighters in the UFC face off in a five round, non-championship bout with title implications on the line. Former title contender Gray Maynard going up against Clay Guida is sure to have fireworks and is a top notch main event that is sure to be exciting.

Also on the card and serving as the co-main event is a matchup between lightweights Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher. The number two featherweight in the world, in many people's opinion, Hatsu Hioki, is also on the card as he'll face Ricardo Lamas. A win could put Hioki right into a title show with Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.

Other bouts on the card include a welterweight matchup between Brian Ebersole and T.J. Waldburger and a featherweight bout between Ross Pearson and Cub Swanson. 

4. UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall (June 8th, 2012 in Sunrise, Florida)

UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall is the first card we'll see as it goes down this Friday night and features a rematch between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall.

The two faced off at UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann in the UFC Flyweight Tournament, but Johnson was announced the winner when, in my opinion, the results were actually a draw. Now, the two will face off once more with the winner moving on to face Joseph Benavidez in the Flyweight Championship fight sometime in the Fall.

The card also features an exciting co-main event between two of the top prospects in the welterweight division as Erick Silva faces off with Charlie Brenneman.

UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall also features bantamweights Eddie Wineland and Scott Jorgensen as well as a welterweight fight between Mike Pyle and Josh Neer.

3. UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera (August 4th, 2012 in Los Angeles, California)

UFC on Fox 4 main event was scheduled to showcase Brian Stann welcoming UFC newcomer, former Bellator Middleweight Champion, Hector Lombard to the octagon, but injury had forced Stann out of the main event and Lombard was moved to another card.

Now, the main event will feature Shogun Rua, who was scheduled to fight Thiago Silva at an earlier event, facing Brandon Vera, who was also removed from an earlier card.

The card is still pretty stacked as the co-main event will be a matchup between former Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader. Also, two of the heavyweights top up-and-comers face-off as Travis Browne faces Ben Rothwell.

Top light heavyweight prospect Phil Davis is also on the card and will face newcomer Wagner Prado. Heavyweight Matt Mitrione, lightweight Joe Lauzon, featherweights Josh Grispi, Cole Miller and Nam Phan are also all fighting on the card as well as the anticipated return of welterweight Mike Swick.

2. UFC 149 (July 21st, 2012 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

UFC 149 is setting up to be another huge card. Although the event took a hit this past week when Shogun was removed from the card to fight on UFC on Fox 4 and Thiago Alves was forced off the card with injury.

Still, one of the best pound for pound fighters in the World will defend his Featherweight Championship as Jose Aldo will take on Erik Koch. The co-main event features Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cheick Kongo in a heavyweight showdown.

The card will also feature two huge UFC debuts as former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard will face Tim Boetsch and former DREAM Bantamweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes takes on Roland Delorme. 

1. UFC 148 (July 7th, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada)

UFC events don't get much bigger than UFC 148 and honestly, this could be the most stacked card in UFC history.

The card doesn't even need to be stacked with a main event that features arguably one of the best fighters of all-time against one of the best trash talkers of all-time, as well as one of the best middleweights in the World in the most anticipated rematch of all-time.

It doesn't get bigger than Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II.

Sonnen dominated Silva for over four rounds in their first matchup at UFC 117, before Silva managed to pull of a beautiful triangle and picked up a 5th round submission victory. Post-fight, it looked as if Sonnen would receive an instant rematch, but trouble would be on the horizon for Sonnen.

Sonnen failed his post-fight drug test and was suspended for one year. Since Sonnen's return, he's defeated the likes of Brian Stann and Michael Bisping. Now, these two rivals will finally settle the score in the main event for the Middleweight Championship.

Also scheduled for UFC 148 was a Bantamweight Championship match between rivals Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, but a torn ACL forced Cruz off the card and now Faber will face top bantamweight contender Renan Barao for the Interim Bantamweight Championship.

The card also features the long awaited rubber match between former Light Heavyweight Champions Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz. Ortiz has also announced that win or lose, he will retire after the fight.

Rich Franklin was scheduled to face Cung Le, but Franklin was removed from the card to face Wanderlei Silva at the main event at UFC 147, so now Le will face the much anticipated return of former middleweight number one contender Patrick Cote.

And believe it or not, that's not all folks. Welterweight Dong Hyun Kim welcomes Demian Maia to the welterweight division, two of the top prospects in the bantamweight division face-off as Ivan Menjivar takes on Mike Easton, and former featherweight number one contender Chad Mendes faces Cody McKenzie.

Gleison Tibau, Melvin Guillard, and Constantinos Philippou also appear on the card.

You absolutely can't miss UFC 148, or better yet any of the next seven UFC events as this summer looks like it'll definitely be the UFC's summer to remember.