Predicting the Next UFC Champion in Each Weight Class

Champions won't be around forever.

Eventually, a champion will be dethroned, and a new one will be crowned.

Champions like Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre seem like they've been around forever, but guys like Junior dos Santos just got their belt and have a long line of contenders coming for them.

This upcoming year—and the remainder of this year—already has four title fights announced, top contenders announced for one more and two more that will have a No. 1 contender fight in the near future.

Let's take a look at who could potentially become the next UFC champion in each weight class.

**Lead photo courtesy of UFC.com.

Bantamweight—Renan Barao

The current bantamweight champion of the UFC is Dominick Cruz.

Cruz has beaten the top five contenders in his division, those being Scott Jorgensen, Urijah Faber, Joseph Benavidez twice, Demetrious Johnson and Brian Bowles.

Right after them in the rankings is Renan Barao.

Barao is 27-1 [1 NC], and is 4-0 in Zuffa owned promotions.

At 24-years-old, he'll be getting a title shot by the time he's 26, and Dominick Cruz won't know what hit him.

Featherweight—Chad Mendes

The current featherweight champion is Jose Aldo, and his next fight will be at UFC 142 against Chad Mendes.

Mendes is 11-0 in his MMA career, and has used his stellar wrestling ability to keep his record undefeated.

In addition to his grappling, he trains with one of the best camps for the little guys, Team Alpha Male, which houses such fighters as Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez.

Faber has experience with Aldo, and with that, he can help better prepare Mendes for the upcoming fight.

The weight cut has become too much for Aldo, and it will show in this fight, as Mendes will become the new champion.

Lightweight—Benson Henderson

Frankie Edgar is the current UFC lightweight champion, and will fight Benson Henderson at UFC 144.

Henderson has been on an absolute tear since joining the ranks of the UFC lightweights, as he has rattled off decision victories over Mark Bocek, Jim Miller—who was, at the time, a win away from a title shot—and Clay Guida in a No. 1 contender match.

Bendo is 15-2 in his MMA career, and is one of the most well rounded fighters in MMA, and definitely in the lightweight division.

His combination of striking, wrestling, jiu jitsu and cardio makes him a handful for anyone to deal with.

When he goes to Japan to fight Edgar, he'll come home with the belt.

Welterweight—Nick Diaz

Georges St-Pierre is the current UFC welterweight champion, and he faces Nick Diaz at UFC 143.

Diaz made his return to the UFC at UFC 137 where he faced off against a legend of MMA, BJ Penn, and earned a unanimous decision, and a shot at the title.

Many fans are torn on who will win this one, with most picking GSP by unanimous decision or Diaz via late finish.

Diaz has had trouble with wrestlers in the past, so there's a strong chance that I'm wrong on this choice.

Middleweight—Chael Sonnen

Anderson Silva is the current UFC middleweight champion.

If Chael Sonnen gets past Mark Munoz—a fight tentatively scheduled for the second UFC on Fox—then he will undoubtedly be next in line for Silva.

Everybody knows what happened at UFC 117, and everyone has likely heard of Sonnen's quest for a rematch since that time.

If he ends up getting the second match with "The Spider" then we will have ourselves a new middleweight champion, as Sonnen will be sure not to get caught in any triangles this time around.

Light Heavyweight—Someone We Haven't Heard of Yet

The current UFC light heavyweight champion is Jon Jones, and he looks to have a shot at becoming the most dominant fighter in MMA history.

So far, Jones has defeated top fighters such as Mauricio Rua and Quinton Jackson. Other fighters who Jones will likely face at some point include Lyoto Machida—scheduled for UFC 140—Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Phil Davis and Alexander Gustafsson.

None of those fighters have a clear advantage over Jones anywhere, so the fighter who will be the next light heavyweight champion is someone that we simply haven't heard of yet.

But he's out there somewhere.

OR...

If Jones ends up moving up to heavyweight in the future, a fight between the two top contenders—likely Rashad Evans and somebody else—will crown a champion.

Heavyweight- Cain Velasquez

The current UFC heavyweight champion is Junior dos Santos.

In his last fight—the fight to win the title—he knocked out Cain Velasquez in a mere 64 seconds.

Both of these fighters are young, talented and hungry. Don't expect it to be long before Cain gets another shot at Junior.

This time, Cain will have a better gameplan—probably to shoot IMMEDIATELY—and will earn a TKO victory over Junior.

Then in the trilogy fight, who knows what will happen?

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @tmt2393.