Josh Koscheck, not so far away from a title shot

After Josh Koscheck's stunning knock out loss to Paulo Thiago, it became public that Koscheck was only two victories away from a title shot. Now in the aftermath some think that Koscheck's loss has blown the welterweight division wide open.

While there is clearly an opportunity for some welterweights --two come to mind in particular-- to climb the divisional ladder, there is still time for Koscheck to repair the damage and secure a title shot. Let's recap the rest of the welterweight division and their current status.

- Thiago Alves is the current number one contender and slated to fight George St. Pierre at UFC 100 this summer. While St. Pierre is the favorite for this fight, we won't be able to conclude what this bout will mean for the rest of the welterweight division until it is over. But for the rest of this exercise we will assume that St. Pierre will win.

- Jon Fitch's loss to George St. Pierre was so thorough and complete that Fitch requires some serious work to get another title shot unless their is a change of the belt. 

- Carlos Condit makes his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fight Night 18 against Martin Kampmann. With Koscheck's loss it appears that Condit could be the next challenger for the welterweight belt. However, since Condit is coming from the WEC, the UFC will want to build him up with at least one, probaly two more fights. That is assuming Condit gets by Kampmann.

- Ironically had Diego Sanchez not dropped to lightweight he could have filled the void now left by Josh Koscheck. Will Sanchez go up to 170 or stay at 155? My intuition tells me Sanchez will stay at lightweight, due to my belief that he will be able to secure a title shot by the end of the year.

- Matt Hughes and Matt Serra are fighting each other and both have loss to St. Pierre, so unless there is a change at the top of the division, it appears that neither will receive a rematch. Whoever wins this fight could be used as fodder to determine the next contender.

- Karo Parisyan will most likely be suspended for six months for taking narcotic painkillers before a fight. We can safely rule him out of the mix.

- Mike Swick is the other welterweight that may have a chance to fill the void that Koscheck left open. But few people have Swick ranked in the top ten. Swick needs a signature win to catapult him into the number one contender position.

As we look at the rest of the division it is evident that Josh Koscheck still has some time to rebound. But in order to secure a title shot Koscheck will need to push for two top opponents. No Chris Lytle, Marcus Davis or Chris Wilson. Koscheck needs to fight Mike Swick, Dustin Hazelett, Jon Fitch or the winner of Condit-Kampmann or Serra-Hughes. If Koscheck puts together two victories over these top opponents he can easily find himself fighting for the welterweight title in December or January.