I have been tring to work out the LHW division in the UFC the past few days. This is my take on what would be the best senerio for the top tier contenders.

Rampage Jackson: The guy is the champ and everyone is wanting his belt. I know he hurt his hand against Henderson so maybe the layoff time to sort some things out is just giving him time to heal properly. I think the best senerio right now is him being a coach on TUF with Forrest Griffin thus the season ending with he and Griffin fighting for the title. Hopefully happen in early 2008.

Recent wins : Liddell , Henderson

Forrest Griffn: Forrest is the most up and coming fighter of the division. He is coming off a win against Rua and Ramirez. Many people saw Shogun as the #1 LHW in the world and his victory has just boosted him to #1 contender status in the UFC. There are rumors of he and Jackson coaching TUF. This is a great deal for Forrest to gain more fans and get the title shot he deserves. As stated above hopefully early 2008.

Recent wins : Rua , Ramirez
Recent Losses : Jardine

Lyoto Machida: Machida is also another quick up and coming LHW. He made his debut in Feb. of 2007. He has quickly racked up 3 wins against 3rd tier competion. I think he needs a top tier fight to see if he is for real. He does not deserve the title shot until he beats a top tier opponet. Thats why his next fight should definatley be one of the major contenders. I would not definatley call Rameau Sokoudjou top because he has not proved himself in the UFC yet. I would have rather seen him face Evans. I see him waiting a while before he gets a title shot.

Recent wins: Hoger , Heath , Nakamura

Keith Jardine: Jardine is moving up the ranks. He is coming off an upset win against Liddell. This really boosted his confidence. He also had a quick loss to Alexander which put him a step back. He is a guy I see who needs another good win under his belt to be considered for a title shot. It would be nice to see a rematch between he and Griffin for the title if Forrest were to beat Rampage and Keith wins his next fight. A perfect next match for him would be T. Silva. Both are coming off victorys a win for either would move them up in the rankings.

Recent wins: Liddell , Griffin
Recent Loses: Alexander

Rashad Evans: This is a guy who always finds a way to win be it pretty or ugly. He is undefeated in the UFC in 7 matchs against (other than Tito) 3rd tier to bottom 2nd tier competition kinda like Machida. I think a fight with Machida would be the best route to go for Rashad. They both have alot to prove before being considered #1 contender, but both are winning and that equals into better matches with better competition. Now with Machida rumored to fight Sokoudjou a good next fight for him could be the winner of the Liddell-W. Silva fight with the winner getting a title shot. But I do'nt thin W. Silva or Liddell thinks they should fight 2 more times to earn a title shot. Rashad is kinda going to be the odd man out for a while I belive unless a rematch with Tito comes into play.

Recent wins: Bisping , Salmon , Lambert
Recent Draw: Ortiz

Chuck Liddell: Chuck used to be the UFC's poster boy but loosing 2 fights in a row has forced the UFC to back away from him a little. Chuck is in win or retire situation right now. He has a match with Pride superstar W. Silva coming up next. Both are coming off of loses and despretly needing a win. If Chuck wins he will be right back into title contention, but if he looses we may never see him fight again or in the HW division. I doubt we will ever see a Jackson / Liddell 3 though.

Recent wins: Ortiz
Recnt loses: Jardine , Jackson

W. Silva: Long time Pride superstar and champ fixing to make his debut against none other than Liddell. Maybe this match is outdated because a year ago this would have been the dream match now its just a contender match. None the less its a match I look forward to. If Silva pulls off the win, you may see him fighting Jackson or the current champ after his fight with Liddell. At least that is whats rumored. I will give this to Silva he only fights the best competition.

Recent wins (Pride): Fujita
Recent loses (Pride): Henderson , CroCop


Thats my take on the contenders.

Late 2007/Early 2008

Rampage vs. Griffin (TUF Coaches)

Evans vs. Ortiz

Machida vs. Sokoudjou

Jardine vs. T. Silva

W. Silva vs. Liddell

Mid 2008

Current champ vs. W. Silva (if he wins) or winner of (Jardine vs. T. Silva) (if W. Siva looses)

Winner of (Evans vs. Ortiz) vs. Winner of (Machida vs. Sokoudjou) for #1 Contender match

*There is just no place for Liddell if he wins against W. Silva. That is unless Rampage agrees to a third fight or looses the belt. Also lets not forget Shogun. He is a good fighter and will be back in the picture quickly as well.*