Velasquez vs. Silva: Champ's 1st-Round KO Illustrates Lack of Depth in Division

UFC's heavyweight division was dealt a humbling blow when Cain Velasquez stopped Antonio Silva in the first round of their bout at UFC 160.

Almost immediately, the calls came for Velasquez to meet in a rubber match with Junior dos Santos, with Showtime's Mauro Ranallo being among the first to ring the bell:

It's easy to see why Ranallo and others would feel that way. Dos Santos is the only fighter to have beaten Velasquez, with the champion getting his revenge a little over a year later. The two have unfinished business, and a third fight between the two would be a lot of fun to watch.

More importantly, the prospect of another Velasquez-dos Santos bout represents how little top-end talent there is in the heavyweight division. Right now, there's those two and everybody else.

It's a good thing Velasquez and dos Santos put on entertaining fights, otherwise fans would be yawning at the idea of seeing two fighters face off the third time since November 2011.

Daniel Cormier's ranked No. 2, but he said in July 2012 that he'd rather move down a weight class than fight Velasquez. With the champ retaining his crown, the potential of a fight with Cormier seems still unlikely.

Fabricio Werdum is ranked third, but it's hard to argue that he would deserve a shot right now. He lost to Alistair Overeem in Strikeforce back in June 2011.

Werdum still needs to beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June. Plus, don't forget what happened when Werdum stepped into the Octagon against dos Santos at UFC 90.

Mark Hunt was ranked ninth in UFC's rankings coming into Saturday night, but he'll inevitably fall after getting knocked out by dos Santos. Hunt looked good, but he simply came up short.

You've got Silva, who has now been stopped twice by Velasquez in less than a calendar year.

It was Silva who knocked out Overeem at UFC 156. Overeem was projected to be a major player in the division. Now he must fight with Travis Browne in August.

The winner of that fight will be helped, but they definitely need to illustrate more in the Octagon in order to be considered legitimate title contenders.

The heavyweight division has some talented fighters, but Velasquez and dos Santos have distanced themselves so much that you can't envision anybody else emerging as a major contender. They all beaten each other but lost to either Velasquez or dos Santos when it mattered the most.

The UFC heavyweight title has been held by either Velasquez or dos Santos since October 2010, when Velasquez beat Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. Don't expect that to change anytime soon looking at the top opposition in the division.