Questions still surround heavyweight prospects

Right now UFC fans know who the top four heavyweights are, at least inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir will fight at UFC 100 to determine the true heavyweight champion. Later this summer Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera will fight, in another Pride versus the UFC bout, which will most likely determine the next number one contender.

However, outside of the top four, the heavyweight division has been a jumbled mess. Part of that is due to the exodus of fighters from the UFC, but another equally important fact has been the rise of several prospects, such as Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.

Shane Carwin's victory over Gabriel Gonzaga has catapulted him to the top of the list of prospects but the next few months are still going to be critical for all three fighters. For Carwin he wasn't even training full time and still defeated Gonzaga. Velasquez faces his most difficult opponent in Heath Herring at UFC 99, and Junior dos Santos remains without an opponent.

UFC 96 also rounded out the gatekeeper ranks. We already knew that Cheick Kongo and Heath Herring filled this role, but now we can add Gonzaga to the ranks.

Yet questions still surround the prospects because there is not a clearly defined path that the UFC is following. Will Carwin face the winner of Herring-Velasquez or the loser of Couture-Noguiera? Will dos Santos fight Gonzaga or Cheick Kongo? Will any of the prospects fight each other, before jumping to the next echelon?

The UFC is building a future heavyweight division from within. (If one needs evidence just look at how many top heavyweights they left packing while refusing to sign any prominent free agents.) While dos Santos, Carwin and Velasquez have answered questions about their abilities with every fight, we are still questioning the collective group.

Thankfully the next few months will sharpen the focus of the heavyweight division and we will learn more about each of these fighters. Carwin-Gonzaga was simply the first volley of heavyweight fights that may remake the whole of the division.