Since ZUFFA seems to be in the habit of pitting young prospects in a Strikeforce vs. UFC showdown, let’s not forget the blatantly obvious need to have Luke Rockhold fight Chris Weidman at middleweight in the battle to see who Anderson Silva can not fight in the future. Personally, I’ve been calling for Cung Le vs. The Spider for nearly four years now. At first it seemed ludicrous, but the human traffic jam we’ve seen in the middleweight division (and the title shots being awarded) just shows that the truth is far stranger than fiction. In fact, if you told me back in 2007 the same guy that lost to Paulo Filho back in WEC would have two title shots against Anderson Silva — I would have shoved you down a flight of stairs and then deny it when the cops came. Alright, maybe not anything that extreme — the point I’m trying to make is that I simply wouldn’t believe you. There, that’s it.
Now that we have Gustafsson vs. Mousasi on the horizon, one can only think where either of these two fighters fit in the light heavyweight title picture. Let’s see — Jones vs. Sonnen obviously has to happen since The Ultimate Fighter told us it must. That leaves the winner of Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida to claim the next shot at the UFC light heavyweight belt. Oh, then there’s Vitor Belfort — a guy that clamored for another ‘Champion vs. Champion’ fight against Jon Jones after he kicked Bisping’s head into the exosphere this past weekend in Brazil. Surely he must fit in the title picture somehow. That leaves (at the minimum) three bouts lined up for Jon Jones before he even sees Gustafsson or Mousasi in the Octagon. Sigh.
Fortunately we’re the only lunatics looking this far ahead into the UFC light heavyweight title picture. Judging by this MMAViking interview, Alexander Gustafsson is solely focused on Gegard Mousasi, and he even calls it the biggest fight of his career.
