The most annoying conversation that emerges following a champion’s dominant victory, are the cries of a division being cleared out. It’s almost never the case.
Champs age, suffer injuries and the field of developing fighters beneath them eventually catches up.
Jon Jones is already getting that ridiculous treatment at light heavyweight, so Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal put together a list over at ESPN.com to shine a light on the guys who may end Jones’ dominance at 205 pounds. Phil Davis was tabbed the No. 1 prospect contender.
The parameters he used were active fighters who have not held a UFC belt in the weight class and haven’t previously fought for a title in the weight class.
Check out the entire list here (sorry it’s Insider access only). The list included fighters like:
8. Ryan Jimmo (16-1), UFC
The Canadian got knocked out in the first round of his MMA debut way back in 2007. Since then, he’s lost one fight ….
3. Gegard Mousasi (32-3), Strikeforce
Though just 26 years old, Mousasi has fought 37 pro MMA bouts already and is an undefeated kickboxer. He also is a proficient wrestler and displays above-average grappling skills …2.Alexander Gustafsson (13-1), UFC
This one is all about potential. The 6-foot-5 Swede is only getting better, and being teammates with Davis at Alliance MMA in San Diego can only help. Gustafsson, whose only loss came at Davis’ hands in April 2010, has reeled off four straight stoppage victories, with visible improvement each time …
He also listed Ryan Bader, Stanislav Nedkov, Thiago Silva and Rafael Cavalcante. Who did Hill miss?
