UFC: Ranking Which Champion Has the Most Threatening Challenge in Next Fight

With all seven UFC champions currently scheduled to face opponents in the second half of 2011, it's going to be a surprise if all of them make it through and still have the belts around their waists in the end.

There will be upsets and defining moments for each champion's career, but they will be doing it against their toughest opposition yet.

How bad does Anderson Silva want revenge against the last man to hand him a defeat at UFC 134?

What questions remain with Junior dos Santos as he prepares to fight Cain Velasquez?

How will Jon Jones react if he gets hit for the first time against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson?

These questions and more will be answered before 2012, and this is how each champion ranks in terms of how threatening their upcoming opponents are to taking away their titles.

No. 7: Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Nick Diaz

It's hard to favor any welterweight against the dominant force that is Georges St-Pierre, and it's the same with former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz.

Diaz is currently on a 10-fight win streak and has put on a show almost every time he has fought. His toughness is his strongest asset and will definitely be a factor if he comes out the victor.

It's hard to see Diaz having his moments in this fight, but he will be there from bell to bell. St-Pierre's experience going five rounds will be a key factor for him in controlling Diaz with his superior wrestling, and that's arguably Diaz's weakest area.

This won't be an easy fight, but Diaz won't bring a lot to the table that St-Pierre hasn't seen before. Wrestling is a neutralizer and nobody proves that more than GSP.

No. 6: Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Demetrious Johnson

The UFC bantamweight championship will be on the line for Demetrious Johnson when he steps into the cage to face champion Dominick Cruz on October 1st.

The fight goes down for free on the Versus network. Some are surprised to see a high profile bout go on a Versus card, but maybe the challenge isn't thought to be as great as it probably will end up being.

It's hard to rank Johnson ahead of Cruz's former opponent, Urijah Faber, who he beat by unanimous decision at UFC 132. Many sites also have Joseph Benavidez, who Cruz beat twice, ranked in the second spot at 135 pounds.

Still, Johnson is one of the best wrestlers in the division and has wins over Miguel Torres and "Kid" Yamamoto to prove it.

Cruz could actually be in trouble if he spends the majority of this fight on his back even if he is still offensive. Judges favor the guy who is on top and Cruz has had had some "close" calls in fights that weren't entirely close.

The judges will be more of a threat to Cruz than Johnson will be to taking away Cruz's title during the bout.

No. 5: Jose Aldo (c) vs. Kenny Florian

Former lightweight title challenger Kenny Florian gets his third shot at a title, this time at his new-found home in the featherweight division.

His opponent at UFC 136 will be current UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.

This could end up being the career-defining fight for Florian if he can win the title, and harsh criticism by UFC President Dana White after his last attempt at a UFC title will probably make him more motivated than ever to live up to the potential many expected to see from him.

In Aldo's previous fight versus Mark Hominick, it was obvious before the fight that there were going to be some cardio problems for the Brazilian fighter. He won the majority of the bout to win a decision but was beaten up in the final round of the fight after gassing badly.

If Aldo fixes his cardio issue, he will have a solid chance of defeating Florian. That or Florian's experience may be the ultimate factor in who wins this fight.

No. 4: Jon Jones (c) vs. Quinton Jackson

Unanswered questions about current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones makes his next opponent at UFC 135 very dangerous in Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Jones has walked through all of his opponents in the UFC, and the hype that has surrounded him has led to him becoming the youngest UFC champion.

Jackson will be coming to this fight with the same gameplan (if you can call it that) he always has, and that's to knock Jones out. It's not a bad gameplan considering Jones' chin has never really been tested, and it's not a good thing to test it against the power Jackson has in his hands.

With Greg Jackson in his corner, Jones will have a very good gameplan set out. It comes down to if he can execute it without making a mistake. While making mistakes may be acceptable in other bouts, a championship fight is the one place where you don't want to make one.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

No. 3: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard

UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar only has one career loss on his record, and it's to the man in the photo, Gray Maynard.

Their second fight ended in a draw after a brutal first round that left Edgar being dropped three times. He recovered to win many of the remaining rounds. You could even make a case he won the last four rounds.

Edgar showed many improvements since the first fight and there will be many more made in the third bout between the two, which goes down at UFC 136.

Maynard may have a harder time adjusting than Edgar will because of the success he had in the first round of the rematch. It's probably hard for him to believe he couldn't stop Edgar. The only problem he had was that he used up a lot of his energy in the opening round.

Edgar really learned something about himself in the last fight, and that will make him more confident than ever.

Between the two fights, you could argue they are even in rounds won at 4-4. That makes this fight very even on paper. Expect a close, hard-fought battle.

No. 2: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Yushin Okami

Yushin Okami excels in the area where current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva is weakest and that's in wrestling.

It's easy to think this fight could go the same way as Silva's fight with Chael Sonnen but it won't be nearly as exciting and don't forget Sonnen dominated that fight for four rounds before being submitted in the fifth.

Okami isn't an aggressive come-forward fighter like Sonnen and he doesn't let himself open for submissions when on top of his opponents.

Even standing up, Okami has a solid chin and good boxing. Silva is the superior striker but doesn't like to engage against opponents who aren't aggressive. Okami may be one of the least aggressive strikers in the UFC but is still very successful standing up.

If Silva can pull off a submission off his back, it will come after a grueling hard-fought fight, and that makes Okami one of his most dangerous opponents in his career.

It all will unfold in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at UFC 134.

No. 1: Cain Velasquez (c) vs. Junior Dos Santos

UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos haven't met anyone quite like each other in their MMA careers.

Dos Santos is no Brock Lesnar, and Velasquez is no Shane Carwin. Both overcame serious size disadvantages to dominate their bigger and stronger opponents to set up this mega-fight that is expected to go down at UFC 139.

There are just too many questions going into this bout that leave it one of the hardest to pick who has the advantage over the other and in which areas they have those advantages.

Nobody really expected Velasquez to do what he did to Lesnar in the first round and nobody expected dos Santos to go the distance with Carwin.

This fight could end in a multiple amount of ways, and fans will find out a lot about both fighters come fight night.