Projecting the 2015 Title Challengers for Each Division
If there's one thing that Dana White wants you to believe right now, it's that 2015 is going to be a big year for the UFC.
Take a second to realize that the UFC will welcome the new year with Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver, Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Johnson and Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz all in the first calendar month.
So, yeah—it's safe to say 2015 is poised to be a big year. Real big.
But you should also take a second to realize that only one of the aforementioned bouts will have any sort of championship implications. For as exciting as the rest of those fights sound, none of those men will walk out of the Octagon with UFC gold.
Those fights for the most part will come later in the year. And with most divisions hosting challengers aplenty these days, it's safe to say each champion should have more than enough to keep himself—or herself (we're looking at you, Ronda Rousey and future strawweight queen)—busy.
Scroll on to see what fighters we project will find themselves challenging for a title in 2015. (Note: Fighters already scheduled to fight for the title will be excluded from this list.)
Flyweight: Ian McCall
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If not for an unfortunate post-weigh-in illness that forced Ian McCall out of his bout against John Lineker earlier this month, we'd probably know if Uncle Creepy would be destined to dance with Demetrious Johnson in 2015.
After all, he is one of two men to pose any sort of a threat to the seemingly invincible champion. Should he be able to use his speed, footwork and wrestling to get past Lineker—or whomever the UFC picks as McCall's next opponent—Uncle Creepy should be more than ready to try and test the champion once again.
Bantamweight: Renan Barao
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A lot went wrong for Renan Barao the last time we saw him step into the cage. In fairness, a lot went right for T.J. Dillashaw.
It appears as if Dominick Cruz's domination over Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 178 was plenty reason to convince Dana White and Joe Silva that he deserved the next crack at the belt—the former champion is back and ready to challenge for his rightful throne.
The other former champion, however, is being asked to fight the division's 14th-ranked fighter. It's tough to say if the UFC will grant Barao a title shot after one win over a lesser opponent—especially with Raphael Assuncao chomping at the bit to cash his seven-fight win streak in for a shot at the title.
It'd also be tough for the UFC to deny Barao a chance to reclaim his crown if he were to defeat Mitch Gagnon; he did, after all, dominate the division in Cruz's absence.
Women's Bantamweight: Bethe Correia
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With an undefeated 9-0 professional record and an unblemished 3-0 UFC record, it's hard to keep denying Bethe Correia big fights inside the Octagon.
The UFC might have a more appealing challenger in Holly Holm. It's even looking for a more appealing challenger outside of the Octagon in Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino.
But if Correia's able to dismantle her next opponent with the same sort of dominance she's imposed on previous opponents, the UFC will have to stop looking outside of its own roster for somebody to challenge the queen.
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Featherweight: Conor McGregor
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Yes, Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson are going to lock horns at UFC Fight Night 57. And, yes, Dana White's already told Swanson that he's likely to get the next title shot with a win against the former lightweight champion.
But let's be honest with ourselves for a second: Does anybody actually think that Conor McGregor won't get the shot if and when he beats Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston? McGregor's poised to march into that cage with the smaller, stockier opponent and use his beloved movement to pick Siver apart.
With the way things have been going for the Irishman as of late, don't be surprised if he manages to convince the UFC brass into taking his title bout back to that Irish stadium McGregor seems to be so fond of.
Lightweight: Donald Cerrone
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For all intents and purposes, Donald Cerrone has already earned his title shot.
The problem? So have three other lightweights.
The second problem? The champion hasn't defended his title in more than a year now, forcing the amount of title challengers to flow beyond comfortable limits.
Cerrone will have yet another opportunity to pad his resume as a title challenger when he takes on rising contender Myles Jury at UFC 182.
Here's hoping Anthony Pettis' first title defense against Gilbert Melendez goes without controversy, finally allowing us to take a step forward with this packed division.
Welterweight: Kelvin Gastelum
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No, Kelvin Gastelum is not a title contender right now. Even in submitting Jake Ellenberger last week in Mexico City, he is still not a title contender.
But he'll have an opportunity to change some minds against Tyron Woodley at UFC 183. Should the Ultimate Fighter 17 winner get past the third-ranked Woodley in any sort of fashion (which he's totally capable of doing), Gastelum should move far enough up in the rankings to find himself in a title eliminator bout against the welterweight's best.
Middleweight: Luke Rockhold
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It's simple, really: Luke Rockhold is one of the very best middleweights in the UFC, and Michael Bisping is not.
Now that we have that squared off, it's probably time we start talking about whom the future title contender should be fighting to further convince the MMA community that he's primed and ready to challenge the middleweight king for the crown in 2015.
The winner between Lyoto Machida and C.B. Dolloway sounds like a pretty good option, right?
Light Heavyweight: Alexander Gustafsson
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No, Alexander Gustafsson hasn't beaten Anthony "Rumble" Johnson yet. We won't know if he's capable of doing so until late January, when the Swedish fighter welcomes his opponent to meet 30,000 to 40,000 of his countrymen.
Gustafsson walks in as the more accomplished fighter, while Johnson is the more explosive. But, as Jon Jones said at the UFC's mega press conference earlier this week, Johnson won't have all that much to offer the Mauler if he doesn't come in tip-top shape.
Look for Gustafsson to try and outwork his opponent as he becomes the only man ever to challenge Jones for a second time.
Heavyweight: Junior Dos Santos
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Yeah, we're pretty familiar with how this played out last time. It was pretty similar to how it played out the time before last, too.
But who's to say it'll be exactly like last time? After all, it's not as if we know for an absolute fact that Cain Velasquez's scheduled title unification bout with Fabricio Werdum will go down as planned. The champion, for all we know, might not be healed enough by then.
This opens the door for Junior dos Santos, who takes on Stipe Miocic at UFC on Fox 13 in December, to take on a UFC heavyweight champion not named Cain Velasquez. It would be the perfect opportunity for the UFC to utilize its second-best heavyweight against a much-improved version of the fighter he destroyed six years ago.
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University's student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
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