Mailbag: Who will hold the gold?

LAS VEGAS – Though one card remains in 2011, the UFC championship roster is set for now. As usual, though, the title picture will look different at the end of 2012 than it does as the New Year dawns.

Your current champions are heavyweight Junior dos Santos, light heavyweight Jon Jones, middleweight Anderson Silva, welterweight Georges St. Pierre, lightweight Frankie Edgar, featherweight Jose Aldo and bantamweight Dominick Cruz. There is no flyweight champion yet because that division, with a weight limit of 125 pounds, will begin competition March 3.

With that in mind, here's a look at who the champions might be at the close of 2012:

Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez. The former champion is the most well-rounded fighter in his group. And while it wouldn't be a shock if dos Santos retains the belt throughout the year, I just believe very strongly in Velasquez's overall game and think he'll find a way to unseat dos Santos in a rematch.

Light heavyweight: Jon Jones. He's just finished the greatest single year in UFC history and he's still learning the game. He's got an unmatched array of weapons, he's from a terrific camp and he's dedicated to improving. Look for Jones to have another big year and be universally recognized as the best fighter in the world by the end of 2012.

Middleweight: Anderson Silva. This isn't as much of a slam dunk as you'd think. Silva will turn 37 in April and he's held the belt for more than five years. He could face guys who will be bad match-ups for him, including, among others, Chael Sonnen, Mark Munoz and Dan Henderson. But Silva has looked beatable only twice in his UFC career, when he met Sonnen and Henderson. I think he'll be highly motivated if he has rematches with either fighter, so I think he'll make it through 2012 with the belt still around his waist.

Welterweight: Rory MacDonald. This is a tough call because champion Georges St. Pierre has been so dominant. St. Pierre is injured and has such a serious knee injury, there is no guarantee he'll ever be as explosive as he used to be. The obvious choice to follow St. Pierre as champion is Nick Diaz, and he dominated B.J. Penn, but MacDonald is a young fighter who has the overall game and the range to compete with the best. He's improving rapidly and if he stays on that path, I think he ends 2012 with the belt.

Lightweight: Donald Cerrone. I would not have predicted this at the beginning of 2011. I saw Cerrone then as a good but not great fighter who made too many mistakes and wasn't as technical as the top guys in the division. Cerrone, though, had a fabulous 2011 and can make it even better Friday if he defeats Nathan Diaz at UFC 141. I expect more of the same from "The Cowboy" in 2012 and expect to see him with the title when 2013 beckons.

Featherweight: Jose Aldo. By his other-worldly standards, Aldo didn't have a great 2011. He had difficulties with Mark Hominick and Kenny Florian gave him problems. Some see him as vulnerable, particularly with a strong wrestler like Chad Mendes looming as his challenger at UFC 142 in Brazil next month. But Aldo has too many weapons and too much experience, so I think he'll come out of 2012 looking better than he did in 2011.

Bantamweight: Urijah Faber. The former featherweight champion will have a huge challenge ahead of him, facing one of the most physically gifted champs in his next outing when he takes on Cruz after their stint coaching on "The Ultimate Fighter 15." Faber nearly wrested the crown from Cruz at UFC 132 in 2011, and I think he'll get it done this time around. The division is loaded with quality fighters, but I expected a highly motivated Faber to be able to successfully defend it and end the year as the 135-pound champion.

Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez. The UFC will crown a flyweight champion for the first time, with Demetrious Johnson meeting Ian McCall and Benavidez taking on Yasuhiro Urushitani. Any of these four could win the tournament, but Benavidez's performance at bantamweight, where he mowed through most of the competition, is what convinced me he'll wind up 2012 as the UFC flyweight champion.

• The UFC's lightweight division could have as many as three champions in 2012. That's not because of weak champions, it's because the division is so stacked.

• Jones is the fighter most likely to go on a multi-year run as champion like Silva has done.

• I don't think either of the guys fighting in Friday's main event, Brock Lesnar or Alistair Overeem, will hold the UFC heavyweight title in the future. That's a good thing, though, because it speaks to the quality of depth in the class.

• Given the number of great bouts that have come after it, where do you think the 2005 classic between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar ranks among the UFC's all-time greatest fights? As fun as it was, I'm not sure it's in the Top 5 any more. Let me know what you think is the greatest fight ever, and why, and we'll discuss it in a future mailbag.

• UFC president Dana White made the right move Christmas Day when he awarded Duane Ludwig the record for fastest knockout in UFC history. Ludwig knocked out Jonathan Goulet in Las Vegas on Jan. 16, 2006, in four seconds, not the 11 that was announced by the Nevada Athletic Commission. But for the sake of integrity of records in the future, I hope the UFC considers appointing an independent panel to resolve such record disputes. Do you think White would have made the change if the aggrieved party were someone with whom he has been or is currently feuding? What if it were long-time White nemesis Frank Shamrock who had that four-second KO? Would that have been changed? An independent panel is the best way to ensure the veracity of all records and keep personalities out of it.

UFC making a mistake with Fuel TV

Kevin, Fuel TV is a premium channel, and most viewers don't have it. I have DirecTV Choice, which is an upgrade from Basic, and I do not get Fuel. So, I believe it is not a good marketing ploy to have any fights or countdown shows on Fuel. I miss them all if they are on Fuel, and I am a huge MMA fan, and I am angry about it. I got all of the Spike shows, and I think UFC should show the preliminaries on FX.

Curtis Brock
Antelope, Calif.

Curtis, I definitely understand your feeling, but this is not a one-way street. The UFC can't simply dictate to Fox. It was a negotiation and I'm sure that Fox wanted a lot of UFC programming on Fuel as a way of building the audience. Right now, Fuel is in 36 million homes. FX is in more than 90 million homes. It would benefit the UFC to have it on FX, which is more broadly seen, but from Fox's standpoint, it's a way to build audience there. I wouldn't be surprised to see Fuel move to the basic packages in the near future.

Mir is out of his mind

If Frank Mir thinks Brock Lesnar is simply going to shoot in when the bell rings and elbow Alistair Overeem to death, he's sorely mistaken. He's going to have to get past a couple of problems, namely Reem's knees, his fists and his guillotine. We all know Lesnar can't take a punch and that Overeem is one of the best punchers in the sport. On Friday, Mir will be proven to be the fool that we all know he is.

C. Martin
Las Vegas

Mir is not a fool. He is a bright, insightful guy who is one of the best analysts in the sport. That doesn't mean he's always correct, but he gave reasons for his pick. When the fight was first announced, I was probably 52-48 in favor of Overeem, believing his striking prowess would be the difference. But Mir certainly made a persuasive argument for Lesnar. The good thing is, it will be proven who is correct in the cage, but I don't get this hating on someone for having an opinion. If Lesnar wins, I hope to hear from you again, pointing out that Mir was correct and that you were wrong.

"The nice aspect about me is, the bigger the fight, the bigger the media attention, the more people come to watch, the better that I am. The bigger it is, the better for me." – Alistair Overeem, who meets Brock Lesnar in a five-round heavyweight fight Friday at UFC 141 in Las Vegas, on his ability to raise his game in big fights.

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