UFC 84: No. 1 Contender at Light Heavyweight to be Decided

UFC 84 promises to be good, maybe the best ever.  It also will give us some answers in the Light Heavyweight division.

You know, the Division that has guys like Rampage Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Shougun Rua, Wandy, Keith Jardine, and Lyoto Machida. With all that talent, it's tough to get a clear-cut No. 1 guy.

The upcoming event has two feature bouts in the division.

Keith Lardine and Wand Silva will beat on each other for as long as they can. This fight could be the biggest to date for Jardine, and I believe if he beats Silva he should be the top contender. With a victory he would have won four of his last five.

Victims include Wilson Gouveia, Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, and Silva. His only loss was at the hands of Houston Alexander. The guy deserves a shot.

The other big bout of the evening will involve Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida.

This will likely be Tito's last fight as a member of the UFC family. He will move on to greener pastures and re-vamp his career by beating the best that can't get into the UFC.

His opponent is Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. The guy trains at Black House with the Nogueria brothers and Anderson Silva. He is a Southpaw and his striking seems to give a lot of guys trouble. The trouble stems from Machida's background in Shotokan Karate and his ability to use those techniques in his fights.

If Machida can beat Ortiz at UFC 84, he will also have a legitamate claim to the next title shot. He is still unbeaten (13-0 if he beats Tito). He has wins over B.J. Penn, Sokoudjou, Rich Franklin, Kaz Nakamura, and Vernon White.

UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva has a tough job normally, but things aren't tough with this much talent. If both men beat their opposition at UFC 84, they should fight each other for the No. 1 spot. Winner gets the guy who holds the strap after the Rampage vs. Forrest fight.

If Machida loses, Jardine should be No. 1, and vice versa.

Once Chuck and Shogun both get healthy they should finally fight. The winner of that bout would have to be considered in the top three or four and could get a quick shot as well.

Now we just sit back and watch the fallout.