Lightweight Logjam: When Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson Are Done, Who's Next?

The lightweight division is well known to UFC fans as being stacked with various fighters who can all make a run at the title.

But lately there has been a trend that has resulted in a logjam of fighters waiting for a title and confused as to how far away they stand from a title shot.

The UFC has been plagued with rematches for a while now. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fought to a draw at UFC 125, which then prompted a trilogy fight between the two at UFC 136, where Edgar won by fourth-round KO.

Then came UFC 144 where Edgar squared off against Ben Henderson. Henderson narrowly defeated Edgar prompting another immediate rematch at UFC 150, on August 11th.

With all these rematches, many fighters have been forced to wait for their shot at UFC gold.

Nate Diaz became the top contender after he racked up three impressive wins, including submitting the ultra-tough Jim Miller for the first time. Now he's forced to wait on the sidelines.

How about Anthony Pettis? He was supposed to unify the WEC title with the UFC one long ago. But then he lost his debut to Clay Guida and has since rattled off two wins, the most impressive one being a head-kick KO of Joe Lauzon.

The potential contenders list just keeps growing. How close is Donald Cerrone if he beats Melvin Guillard? Anthony Pettis still stands in his way (in what would be a wicked fight, by the way), and can Jim Miller or Gray Maynard string together some wins and get back to top contendership?

The worst thing that could happen for the lightweight division is if Edgar defeats Henderson in a very close match. That's just asking for a trilogy which further complicates the lightweight title picture.

It's time we see some new blood fighting for the title.

Who wouldn't want to see Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone and more go out and try to win the title?

New and exciting fighters ready to prove they got the stuff to win? Sign me up.

So let's all hope that at UFC 150, Edgar or Henderson win their fight decisively so we can finally move forward in the lightweight division and create some exciting fan-friendly matches that are sure to have us all jumping out of our seats.

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