UFC Light Heavyweights: Missing Champion a Blessing in Disguise?

After winning the light heavyweight championship at UFC 113, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua underwent an alarming third knee surgery and is now in the eighth month of rehabilitation.

By the time he next defends his title against Rashad Evans in March, it will have been over 10 months since a UFC title fight has taken place at 205 pounds.

Common thought would usually see nothing positive in a champion sitting out of action for such a substantial amount of time, but recent history may suggest otherwise.

In the aftermath of Shogun's title-winning, first-round knockout over Lyoto Machida, the list of immediate title challengers was far from outstanding. Other than Rashad Evans, who himself was just two fights removed from a knockout loss to Machida, there was no obvious contender inducing the fan's clamor.

Machida had suffered back-to-back poor performances against Shogun. Quinton Jackson lost a lackluster decision to Evans just two weeks after Shogun's victory.

Forrest Griffin was injured, not to mention the image of his first-round knockout loss to Anderson Silva was still fresh in the minds of most. A rematch with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira would have made some sense, but his unimpressive decision win over Jason Brilz would have made him a tough sell in a main event.

Ryan Bader and Jon Jones were far too green to even be in the conversation. Thiago Silva was out with an injury and 1-2 in his last three.

The one fight fans would have unquestionably paid for was against Anderson Silva, but he had made it clear his business was at middleweight.

Since that time, things have changed. In the coming months, the light heavyweight division bolsters some of the most anticipated matchups in the sport.

Other than Shogun's upcoming defense against Evans, the UFC will showcase Quinton Jackson vs. Thiago Silva, Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz vs. Rogerio Nogueira and maybe most importantly, Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones.

The winner of most of those fights could make a case for deserving the next shot at the title.

The light heavyweight lineup is beginning to bust at the seams with the champion unable to knock off any contenders, and this isn't the first time we've seen this.

The last 16 months saw the same thing happen in the UFC's heavyweight division.

After Brock Lesnar unified the title at UFC 100 against Frank Mir, the heavyweight division looked as shallow as we had come to expect from the UFC's big men. After all, it was being ruled by a fighter with a 4-1 record.

Lesnar brutally stopped Frank Mir. Cain Velasquez was coming off a tough decision win over Cheick Kongo in only his sixth fight. Junior Dos Santos had only fought twice in the UFC and had yet to even see the second round.

Shane Carwin's sole notable win was over Gabriel Gonzaga, and that was enough to make him the clear No. 1 contender.

But, after Lesnar was forced to sit out a year while battling diverticulitis, the UFC heavyweight lineup took on a whole new feel. We all wanted to see how these rising contenders would fare against the champion.

The title picture getting a bit backed up is really not such a bad thing. It makes every contender truly earn his shot.

Now, whoever wins between Shogun and Evans can expect to have a long list of attractive matchups looming to challenge for the belt throughout 2011.

The only question now is: Will the champion be the same fighter he was after so much time off?

This article was originally posted on TheMMATruth.com