UFC's Fallen Champions and the New Kingpins

For now the title picture in the UFC looks to have stabilized a little more after the tumultuous year that passed. Every title holder has a solid claim to the belt (if you pretend that Randy Couture no longer exists like the UFC), and at least a few contenders lined up.

However, three divisions in particular—Welterweight, Middleweight, and Light Heavyweight—have lost what were previously their figureheads. In fact, all of these champions have been violently and decisively removed from their spots.

This article examines the former champions against their new rivals, analyzing who among them has the best chance to regain their championship title.

Welterweight—Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre

Despite the year long hiccup that was Matt Serra's title reign (successful defenses: zero), GSP has been dominating the division in a way similar to Hughes in his yesteryear.

While there are a few solid challengers coming up (Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves), none really pose a threat to the young Canadian, who seems to have regained his aura of invincibility with three straight dominating wins since getting finished by Matt Serra, including stopping Serra in the second round with knees to the body just this month.

The fact of the matter is, when GSP is focused he looks unstoppable.

He trains with extremely high-level proponents in every area of his game, his striking is crisp and solid, his submissions are great, and his wrestling is near Olympic level (he was actually planning on trying out for the Olympic team in his time off).

Add that to the solid training partners and game-planning of Greg Jackson's camp, coupled with his natural strength and beastly athleticism, and you have a champion who looks extremely hard to beat.

The series between Hughes and St. Pierre is 2-1 GSP and will likely remain that way. With the two beatings that GSP has given Hughes—one win by KO and one by submission—a lot of people are forgetting that Hughes actually won their first go round, also by submission.

However, most chalk this up as a rookie mistake on the part of St. Pierre and something that is very unlikely to be repeated (it is one of his only two losses). 

Hughes will always be competitive in the division, but he has given multiple hints that he is nearing the end of his career and only wants a few more fights. With Thiago Alves coming up this summer and most likely a bout with rival Matt Serra after that, Hughes has more or less conceded that GSP is the better fighter and doesn't show a marked interest in the belt, at least as long as the man from Quebec holds it.

Seeing as he will likely do so for quite some time, Hughes, the only man on this list to hold a win over his nemesis, appears least likely to regain his titleholder status.

Middleweight—Rich Franklin vs. Anderson Silva

Ever since Rich Franklin burst onto the UFC scene, he's been earmarked for success. He had it all: an exciting striker with a well-rounded game, a marketable look, and intelligent speaking ability.

With a high-profile, dominating win over Ken Shamrock at the first Ultimate Fighter Finale, he finally stood where he wanted to be: facing Evan Tanner for the Middleweight title. After nearly four rounds of punishment, Tanner's face looked like ground beef and the referee had no choice but to halt the fight, naming Franklin the new champion.

Despite the fact that Franklin had a great record (only one loss, no decisions), people doubted his ability. He proved time and time again that he belonged at the top of the heap, brutally crushing TUF 1 standout Nate Quarry, and defeating David Loiseau in a five-round beating that to this day seems to have affected Loiseau's confidence as a fighter.

He was the king of the division, unquestioned, and the promotion began having difficulty finding a challenger.

Then came Anderson Silva. A Pride and Cage Rage fighter with a wealth of experience, but not exactly a flawless record, Silva stepped into the cage and absolutely demolished hard-hitting journeyman Chris Leben in a shocking display.

Silva not only knocked out the hard-headed Leben, but didn't allow him to land a single blow the entire fight, earning himself a shot at the title in only his second UFC fight. The pundits were fairly split on the potential outcome of this fight, but minutes after the bell rang, Franklin ended up locked in Silva's muay thai clinch, where The Spider delivered a barrage of knees that stopped Franklin in just less than three minutes, requiring him to have surgery on his shattered nose.

Franklin came back strong by battering up-and-coming submission specialist Jason MacDonald to a corner stoppage and defeating Yushin Okami in a decisive, if uneventful decision.

Ready to do battle with Silva again, Franklin once more stepped into the octagon, only to encounter the same problems, looking visibly frustrated at the inability to land blows on Silva. At the end of the first round, Silva caught him with a punch that caused Franklin to collapse like a puppet with his strings cut, but he was saved by the bell.

Unfortunately the second round proved no different as Silva once again latched on his clinch and effectively reenacted the first fight, complete with his amateur plastic surgery on Franklin's nose.

Whether it was a weakness in Franklin's wrestling or an unwillingness to change his game plan, he must have realized the futility of standing with Silva in the second fight, and yet he did.

In this sport it is difficult to completely count out any fighter, but unfortunately Franklin truly appears to have nothing to offer against Silva in a third bout. The game plan was clear to take him to the ground, but he appeared to be unable to do it.

In fairness to Franklin, Silva has dispatched everyone the UFC has thrown at him in less than two rounds, and those who have gotten him to the ground have not fared better there.

The two have developed a huge mutual respect and have even become friends. In fact, if you look carefully in the second fight, Silva actually appears to apologize to Franklin before landing the final blows. Franklin himself has said that he does not think the fans are interested in seeing him fight Silva a third time, and he appears to feel the same way about the matchup.

Franklin's best chances to regain the title appear to be either waiting until Silva leaves the promotion (unlikely but possible due to Silva's apparent yearning to prove himself in pro boxing), or to wait for someone to take the belt from the Spider.

This second option seems a risky prospect, and one of the main obstacles to this is Franklin himself. By proving to be one of the most dangerous competitors in the division, and as the former champion, he is likely to be the measuring stick for any potential challenger to Silva.

The issue is twofold.

1) Franklin can still probably beat 95 percent of the fighters in the division, so how does anyone get to Silva without bypassing him?

2) If someone does get past Franklin and beats the Spider, how does he make his case for a title shot?

Just this month Franklin proved my point as he dispatched of a strong potential challenger in Travis Lutter, a man who arguably almost beat Silva in their last encounter, and sent him back to the drawing board.

Dan Henderson finds himself in the same position in the division, and it is likely that the two could find themselves facing off this summer. This would undoubtedly have to be a number one contender's matchup, and then what? Rich Franklin is in an unenviable position. He has the possibility of taking the belt once again, but not from Silva.

Light Heavyweight—Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

In my mind this is the matchup that has the most uncertainty, although the majority of fans don't seem to see it that way. The assertion that Jackson has Chuck's "number" is widespread, but not as well-founded as one would think.

The Iceman and Rampage first met in 2003 in the Pride Grand Prix where Dana White himself had accompanied Liddell to Japan and had a bet riding with Pride owners that Liddell would take the whole tournament.

Chuck was focused on beating Wanderlei Silva in (assumedly) the finals, but he had to get through Jackson first.

What happened was a performance similar to the one that Liddell recently had against underdog challenger Randy Couture. Whether it was the different environment (although Liddell had two fights in Pride already), a purported leg injury, or the fact that Rampage simply wasn't afraid of Chuck's power, Jackson waded into him nonstop and in the second round took him down and pounded him until his corner threw in the towel.

No wonder the UFC didn't want to cross-promote after that...

After losing to Jackson, Liddell returned to the Octagon and proceeded to go on an unprecedented streak of knockouts, along the way picking up the Light Heavyweight title and avenging two of the three losses in his career, to Couture and Jeremy Horn.

Eventually, after a brief stopover in the WFA, Rampage made his way to the UFC, and was clearly gunning for Liddell. After stopping Marvin Eastman in his debut fight, he came into title contention. What happened was something that very few predicted.

There was no slugfest, no slams, no looping overhand right. Less than two minutes into the first round, Liddell went for a left hook to the body, and Rampage caught him with a beastly right hook on the way out, dropping him and giving Jackson his first major championship title.

Since then, Jackson successfully defended against Dan Henderson in a fairly close decision, then took some time off to nurse a broken hand, as well as film a season of The Ultimate Fighter with his next challenger, Forrest Griffin.

Liddell continued to spiral downward, losing a huge upset decision to Keith Jardine. It was during this time that people began to question Liddell's lifestyle, as he was often seen partying and accused of not training hard. It was also during this time that he gave the infamous "NyQuil interview" where he appeared severely out of sorts on a talk show and even seemed to doze off at one point.

Even UFC president and close friend Dana White said that Liddell may need to consider retiring.

Whether it was the naysayers or a renewed hunger for the belt, Liddell dragged himself out of his funk and looked like the Iceman of old when he dispatched rival Wanderlei Silva in a long-awaited dream fight. Liddell showed tightened reflexes, renewed energy, and even a willingness to expand his game plan, as he went for (and got) a few takedowns for the first time in more than four years.

Liddell's scheduled bout against Shogun Rua was cancelled when Rua injured his knee, and the replacement bout against Rashad Evans was cancelled when Liddell himself fell to injury, with a nasty hamstring tear.

I feel that Liddell has the best chance to regain his title, simply because he has shown the most hunger to regain the belt, and especially because of his willingness to fight the man who took it from him. The injury is definitely a monkey wrench in the plans, but I believe that Liddell will come back and make his way into contention again.

Be it the supposed "UFC favoritism" or simply his marketability with a win over Silva (who twice beat Jackson), and the fact that little can be learned from their abbreviated second meeting, Liddell is probably one fight away from a title shot again.

If Griffin happens to take the belt from Jackson, he will have no problem taking that fight either. Liddell's power can be a problem for anyone, and with his age (37) being more of an impetus to move faster than a hindrance, it's only a matter of time before the Iceman challenges for the belt again.

Will he get it? Only time will tell.