Top Five Up-and-Coming Heavyweights in the UFC

The UFC is packed with some of the best fighters in the world. Guys like Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira, Anderson Silva, and Forrest Griffin are easily spoken when naming the best fighters in their weight division in the world. The UFC is the big dog of MMA and if you watch their middleweight and especially, light heavyweight divisions it is very apparent that you're watching the best in the world. Strangely, if you ever watch a heavyweight fight in the UFC, it seems surprisingly weak. Fighters are overweight with flab hanging off their stomaches and love handles. They are usually one dimensional fighters with either little ground game or little standing ability. The UFC seems to struggle to find the best when it comes to heavyweights.

Through the next few paragraphs, five heavyweight fighters of the UFC will be ranked in order of who seems to have the most potential. After reading this list hopefully, the UFC heavyweight division's future will seem a little brighter to you.

5. Brock Lesnar - The former WWE wrestler is a risk to put on this list. He is completely green when it comes to the world of MMA. He wouldn't even be in the UFC if it wasn't for his name recognizition which makes money on pay-per-view buys. His two fights have been short with one loss and one win. His one loss was to another fighter on this list, Frank Mir. Lesnar has an upcoming fight at UFC 87 on August 9, 2008. This will be a huge test for 265-pounder as he faces a decent fighter in Heath Herring. Herring as fought in Japan and faced a who's who of heavyweight fighters. A win here would reset Lesnar's career on the right track.

4. "Vai Cavalo" Fabricio Werdum - Weighing in at 247 pounds, Werdum is one of the most experienced guys on this list. He has his share of victory over name fighters like Aleksander Emelianenko, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Brandon Vera. Within the past two years, Werdum has lost to Andrei Arlovsky and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, who is the current UFC heavyweight champion. What holds Werdum from being higher ranked on this list is two things. I really wanted to keep the list to true fresh faces and his lack of fights in the UFC. I felt compelled to put Werdum on the list as he hasn't had a title shot in the UFC. Unfortunately,in two years he has only fought three times for the company. He fought only once in all of 2007 and that was in April. He went back to Brazil and trained at Chute Boxe to improve his aggression. For all UFC fans, I hope it worked.

3. Cain Velasquez - Velasquez is one of the newest fighters on the list with only four fights to his name, all wins in the first round. He has two fights with the UFC. The last one was an impressive TKO of Brad Morris. Velasquez trains at American Kickboxing Academy in Yuma, Arizona. Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and Cung Le have all trained there. Greatness breeds greatness and Velasquez is in the middle of it all.

2. Frank Mir - If you've never seen the video of Frank Mire breaking Tim Sylvia's arm in the UFC octagon, I highly suggest watching it. The break is sick and awesome and earned Mir his first UFC championship. He was later stripped of the title when he was unable to defend it after 14 months due to a knee injury suffered in a motorcycle accident. Mir is one of the best submission artists in the heavyweight division. Unfortunately, he has an almost complete lack of striking ability. His record is 11-3 with all three losses due to TKO. If he ever develops his stand-up game, he will be a force to be reckoned with in the UFC.

1. Shane Carwin - I didn't want to make an obvious choice for number one, so I picked a fighter I am very excited about. Shane Carwin is 9-0 with 4 by knockout and 5 by submission. None of his fights have gotten out of the first round. I finally got to see Carwin fight at UFC 84: Ill Will where he crushed Christian Wellisch's jaw with a brutal right hand. His next opponent is at UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben for free on SpikeTV. He'll be fighting Neil Wain. After much looking I couldn't find much on Wain except he is 4-0 and from the U.K. where the event is occurring. I expect Carwin to be 10-0 after the fight.

Information courtesy Wikipedia.