2011 has been an interesting year for the light heavyweight division. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was expected to defend his title against number one contender Rashad Evans, but a knee injury in practice forced Evans off of the card.
Rising star Jon "Bones" Jones was paired to face Ryan Bader and won the bout by second round submission. After the bout it was announced that Jones would go on to face Shogun for the light heavyweight Championship. Jones won that fight in dominating fashion.
Post-fight, it was announced that Jones would defend his belt against former teammate Rashad Evans. This led to the start of a rivalry. They were set to fight at UFC 133, but Jones withdrew due to a "hand" injury. Rashad was then set to face Phil Davis, but less than two weeks later Jones announced that his hand didn't need surgery and that he would defend his belt in October.
At UFC 132, Tito Ortiz was fighting for his job. In the first round he caught Ryan Bader with a right hand, Bader went down, Ortiz locked him in a guillotine and won his first fight in over four years. One week later, Phil Davis withdrew from his fight with Evans due to injury. Machida agreed to the bout, then his camp requested "Anderson Silva" money, so then he was no longer on the card.
The last man anyone ever expected to step up did so. Tito Ortiz has all of the momentum in the world on his side and accepts the fight, and with a win puts him deep into the title picture at 205lbs. If Evans wins he faces the winner of Rampage and Jones at a later date.
Dan Henderson has officially done the impossible. He defeated the greatest fighter of all time, Fedor Emelianenko. Not only did he defeat him, but he knocked him out. Even though many are claiming early stoppage, it still doesn't change the fact that his hand was raised at the end of the fight. That was the last fight on Henderson's Strikeforce contract and Dana White has expressed interest in re-signing Henderson, which could lead to a title unification bout.
Forrest Griffin will face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 134. They have fought once before with Griffin winning by third round submission, in what was considered at the time one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. This bout solidifies top five status for the winner, and possibly a title eliminator bout. The winner may face Tito Ortiz if he wins, or even Lyoto Machida.
That being said, there are just so many questions about the light heavyweight division. Let's take a look and try to get a handle on this.
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