3 UFC Titles That Will Change Hands in 2012

The UFC heavyweight championship once again changed hands as the world watched Junior dos Santos need just slightly over a minute to dethrone former champion Cain Velasquez with one of his patented thunderous right hands.

While there are still plenty of great fights to be seen in 2011, the UFC's seven different championships appear to be at rest for the duration of the year.

Junior dos Santos became the fourth man to claim a UFC belt in the year of 2011 along with Jon Jones and the champions of the UFC's two newest divisions, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz. With the nature of MMA scheduling, when a belt changes hands, it is big deal.

With many title pictures looking clear and some very deserving challengers lined up for the current champions, there is sure to be some change among the sport's elite.

The 2012 year could very well see many title changes, but three divisions stand out as ones that will definitely see a shakeup at the top.

Lightweight

With the long-awaited three-quel with Gray Maynard now behind him, Frankie Edgar can now turn his attention to the other contenders at lightweight.

While some would like to see Edgar fight featherweight champion Jose Aldo at eight weight, Edgar has a few contenders at lightweight that may put an end to any superfight speculation.

First on the docket is Ben Henderson. The WEC transplant is coming off a very impressive unanimous decision victory over the always tough Clay Guida.

Henderson-Edgar should be a war and a Henderson victory should not be surprising in the least. Since his integration into the UFC directly after a decision loss to fellow lightweight Anthony Pettis, Henderson has reeled off an impressive three straight victories, earning him a fight in early 2012 against the champion.

Henderson possesses the power that Maynard had to put Edgar in trouble, but is also a very unorthodox dynamic striker that the quick Edgar has not seen in his career. How Edgar is able to handle Henderson's power will determine if he can hold onto the belt.

Should Edgar successfully defend his belt he could find himself in a showdown with another dynamic WEC transplant: Donald Cerrone. Cerrone's explosive style has given UFC opponents fits, going 4-0 with three stoppage victories since joining the organization.

Should Edgar retain his belt for all of 2012 he will certainly prove that he deserves his spot near the top of all pound-for-pound lists.

Middleweight

The middleweight division isn't known for having a whole lot of turnover—in its entire history in the UFC, it has only had five champions.

This is largely because the current reigning champion, Anderson Silva, has held the belt for an astounding five years and has an amazing nine straight title defenses. However, 2012 could signal the end of the longtime middleweight kingpin.

A highly-anticipated rematch with nemesis Chael Sonnen has already been agreed upon (much to Silva's chagrin) and is speculated to occur in either January or February, as Silva recovers from shoulder surgery.

Sonnen is known as being the man to dominate "The Spider" for four-and-a-half rounds before finally falling into a triangle choke-armbar submission late in the fifth and final round. Shortly after the fight, Sonnen's performance came under question when it was found that Sonnen's testosterone levels were way beyond the limits allowed to fighters.

The rematch figures to be the highlight of early 2012 and questions surround this match that will, as Sonnen described it in his post-fight interview at UFC 136, be the biggest rematch in the business.

Will Sonnen be able to bring the fight to Silva again without the extra testosterone? Will Silva knock Sonnen out after all the bad blood? Either way it is a great fight for the fans and the UFC, and at the end of the night we just may have another belt that changes hands.

Should Silva dispatch of Sonnen in the rematch it is a certainty that some will call for the legend to move up to the light heavyweight class and challenge himself in the latter part of his career.

While Silva has shirked at a potential move in the past, there aren't many challenges left for him at middleweight so there would be a chance he vacates the middleweight crown to pursue a run at light heavyweight, thus leaving the UFC with a new middleweight champion in 2012.

Heavyweight

The heavyweight division certainly has seen its fair share of turnover. Since the inception of the division in 1997 there have been 16 champions.

The title has changed hands at least once every year for the last five years and 2012 doesn't look to be the year that the trend changes.

Junior dos Santos certainly looked dominant in his one minute and four second demolition of Velasquez, but his victory has set up a matchup with an opponent that is just as devastating, the "Demolition Man" himself.

No disrespect to Brock Lesnar—a top five heavyweight to be sure—but Alistair Overeem came to the UFC with one mission in mind: to be the UFC heavyweight champion. Overeem's pure power should have no issues putting Lesnar down and clearing the way to the most explosive fight the UFC could make: Overeem-dos Santos.

Overeem has a rare blend of power and technique that is rarely seen in the heavyweight division and may just have the kickboxing and muay Thai skills to beat dos Santos standing. Should Overeem somehow get the fight to the ground, something no one has really done to dos Santos, his submissions are the best in the heavyweight division.

The biggest knock on Overeem is that he hasn't exactly fought top-tier talent as a heavyweight, but given his impressive performances in the various organizations he has fought in, he should do just fine against elite competition in the UFC.

Should dos Santos put Overeem away, a rematch with Cain Velasquez or a fight with Lesnar could follow. As dos Santos proved in his victory to claim the heavyweight championship, heavyweight fights more so than any other division can be decided by one punch.

When that is the case, you can expect the belt to change hands often; 2012 should be no different.