~ Alistair Overeem ~
Overeem has fallen hard three times in the last couple years of his career. Firstly, he popped on a piss test for steroids and was taken out of the title line up when he was coming off the most momentum in his career from a first round TKO destruction of Brock Lesnar.
Then after serving his yearlong suspension, and the UFC was able to gain permission from Nevada’s athletic commission to schedule a fight right on top of the time he would be up for reinstatement, he was unceremoniously dispatched by Antonio Silva in the third round.
But the hard knocks didn’t stop there for the former Dream, Strikeforce, and K-1 kickboxing world champion. Becoming injured, he had to pull out of his fight with Junior Dos Santos, which was his third title eliminator opportunity he failed to capitalize on since joining the UFC.
But even though he has fallen very hard in his career, the potential for ‘The Reem’ to climb back in to the spotlight is a very tangible possibility. He is very decorated, skilled, and visually stunning individual. More importantly, his fans love him. With all this going for him, look to see Overeem smash a few heavyweights in the near future and get back to the business of winning.
~ Rashad Evans ~
Riding wins against Thiago Silva, Tito Ortiz, Rampage Jackson, and Phil Davis, it was obvious that Rashad would provide Jon Jones with his hardest test to date. After losing a lopsided decision to the young champ, Rashad went in to a bout with Antonio Rogeiro Nogueira in the co-main event on Super Bowl weekend, with a guaranteed shot at Anderson Silva if he secured a win.
All he had to do was beat a mid-level opponent in the light heavyweight division, of who’s biggest win was against a washed up Tito Ortiz. What happened was odd. Rashad never pulled the trigger during the fight, and lost a decision from simply not throwing punches. It just was weird, and it completely derailed his career and lost him a title shot against the GOAT.
He will be fighting Dan Henderson in June at UFC 161, and trust me, he’s got a better shot than most are willing to give him. If he pulls off the upset, the momentum will put him right back in to title contention among the light heavyweights, and more importantly, allow him to drop weight and challenge for the middle weight title eventually, depending on his desire to stay relevant in the UFC at middleweight, or simply fight other big names at light heavy.
~ Erick Silva ~
A highly touted protégé of Anderson Silva, the young welterweight in Erick Silva, exploded on to the scene with lightning fast striking, quickly racking up three impressive wins. Unfortunately one was overturned, due to illegal strikes to the back of the head (at UFC 142 against Carlos Prater), which turned out to be completely clean shots to the sides and front, upon review.
Then in the first round against Jon Fitch, Silva looked like he was just too much for the tough grinding vet Fitch was known to be, and in a close submission attempt before the bell saved Fitch in the first, it seemed that someone had finally arrived among the welterweights to take GSP’s belt.
Unfortunately for Silva, he was absolutely smothered in the subsequent rounds, dropping a unanimous decision victory to Fitch, in what was UFC 153’s fight of the night.
Now with a chance to get back to his winning ways, he will welcome Strikeforce veteran, Jason High to the Octagon in June at UFC on FUEL TV 8. Where Silva had been hurled in to the deep end of the welterweight division early on in his career, this one should provide the young contender a chance to get back to his winning ways, and explode back on the scene in what is currently one of the most talent rich divisions in the sport today.
~ Eddie Alvarez ~
Alvarez had just finished up his contract with Bellator Fighting Championships and was on the verge of landing his biggest contract to date with the UFC. Yet when Bellator opted to invoke their right to match any competing contracts for their fighters, everything went south in his career.
Bjorn Rebney stated he had matched the deal the UFC had offered by simply crossing out the UFC’s name on their contract and putting Bellator’s in it’s place. Of course when the UFC was offering PPV percentages and title shots, it is obviously not the same thing.
Simply put, the UFC’s brand is much more established than Bellators. So if they want to beat out a contract with the world’s biggest MMA promotion, they are going to have to do better than go blow for blow and put more cash down at the table, and that’s if a price can be put on a contract with the UFC at this point.
As the court battle continues, Alvarez will be forgotten for a while, but once this thing is resolved, he will hopefully find himself rubbing shoulders with the best in the UFC’s lightweight division before too long.
~ Shane Carwin ~
Remember Shane Carwin? The guy who has finished all his opponents in the first round, except for the two losses he suffered by Brock Lesnar who he almost finished and JDS who he was one of two men to go the distance with?
Yah he’s still one of the top fighters in the world, only suffering in the rankings and our memories due to his inability to stay healthy.
Once he is able to sort out his physical ailments and properly rehabilitate his back, it’s difficult to not see him giving any heavyweight ranked within the top ten of the world, absolute hell.
Honorable mention
Mark Munoz
Jon Fitch
Thiago Alves
Anthony Johnson
Miguel Angel Torres