Fight to the Finish: What's the Most Anticipated UFC Title Bout Left in 2009?

With the addition of the Anderson Silva-Vitor Belfort Middleweight title fight to UFC 108, the UFC will showcase four explosive title fights to finish out the year 2009.

The only champion not defending his belt by years end is Welterweight champion George St. Pierre who suffered a severe injury in his title defense at UFC 100 against Thiago Alves.

 Which 2009 headliner is likely to produce the most fireworks? Let’s take a look.
 
 
UFC Lightweight title: B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez—UFC 107

“The Prodigy” has always been recognized as one of MMA’s most naturally gifted fighters but his heart and conditioning has always been questioned by fans. What most fail to realize is that Penn only looks out of shape when moving up in weight but his conditioning at 155 pounds has always been impressive.

 This is something so many people forgot about leading into his fight with Kenny Florian at UFC 101 and Penn instantly refreshed their memories by brutally dominating the challenger and choking him out in the fourth round.

Next in Penn’s path is “The Nightmare” Sanchez who quite possibly could be the most explosive fighter to have ever walked God’s green earth. Sanchez dropped down to lightweight from welterweight early this year and was dominant in two exciting bouts with Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida.

His intensity and well-rounded skills make him a huge threat to Penn’s title and whether or not he’ll be able to dethrone the Hawaiian remains to be seen but one thing is for sure this brawl should go down in history as an instant classic.

UFC Middleweight title: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort—UFC 108

For many months the biggest question regarding the 185-pound division was who was next in line to challenge Silva. Well at UFC 103 “The Phenom” Belfort answered that question with a huge exclamation point knocking out former champion Rich Franklin three minutes into the first round.

While one can certainly make the argument that top contenders Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt have deemed themselves more worthy of a title shot you also have to take into consideration that each of them had their chance against “The Spider” and lost quite convincingly.

The UFC has announced that Marquardt and Henderson will instead battle it out to determine who gets that almighty rematch but in the meantime Belfort gets Silva at UFC 108: The Ultimate 2009 for the Middleweight crown.

While technically UFC 108 is taking place in early 2010, it is still considered the end of year show for the UFC comparable to how Super Bowl XLIV will be taking place in February of 2010 but determines a champion for the 2009 season.

Silva is head and shoulders above every other fighter in the world in terms of technical ability and on most fans lists he is ranked as the pound for pound best in the world. However against Belfort it will be the first time in awhile where someone may actually pose a threat to "The Spider."

Belfort seems to have gone through a tremendous amount of changing since his first UFC run as he seemed much more patient and relaxed against Franklin in his return to the Octagon. It will be interesting to see if the newly evolved "Phenom" will be able to do what no man in the UFC has ever done before—defeat Silva.

UFC Light Heavyweight title: Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua—UFC 104

Fresh off victories over Rashad Evans and Chuck Liddell respectively, Machida and Rua will do battle in what could potentially go down in history as the greatest 205-pound matchup of all time. Those who followed the Pride Fighting Championship around as if it were a cult are very high on the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix winner Rua.

But make no mistake about it while Rua has maintained a 2-1 record since coming over to the UFC from Pride he has not looked anywhere near as impressive as he once was. Machida on the other-hand boasts an unblemished 14-0 MMA record and seems to look better with each performance.

Though that’s not to say Rua poses no challenge to "The Dragon" as his strong Muay Thai base and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills should not be taken lightly at all. Machida has made a career out of frustrating opponents with his unorthodox shotokan base but this may be the first time in his career where he is fed a spoonful of his own medicine.

Regardless of who is left standing at the end with their hand raised fans can expect a very technical bout on October 27th between the two best 205-pound warriors.

UFC Heavyweight title: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin—UFC 106

Mark down Nov. 21 on your calendars because that is the night the biggest Heavyweight bout in the history of the sport will be taking place. When this fight is underway fans will believe they are witnessing a real-life monster fight rather than an actual MMA bout.

Ever since submitting to former Heavyweight champ Frank Mir in his UFC debut, Lesnar has bulldozed Heath Herring, UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and Mir in a rematch. The former WWE champion is rapidly progressing in MMA and is well on his way to establishing himself as the most dominant heavyweight of all time.

But he will first have to get past Carwin who is unbeaten with 11 straight victories and coming off a devastating knockout over Gabriel Gonzaga. Every single one of Carwin’s victories has come by way of a first round stoppage and his pimp slap-esque knockout over Gonzaga is proof that he has the heaviest hands in all of MMA.

Out of the four title bouts listed above this Heavyweight title bout is the most anticipated and is likely to not only go down as the better fight but also a bigger PPV draw than the previously mentioned headliners.