Mike Swick's injury just blew the welterweight division wide open

The dust has yet to settle on Mike Swick backing out of his fight with Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 but there's one thing we know for sure, the welterweight division is wide open.

If we look at the rankings it is hard to see who will emerge now that Swick and Kampmann aren't fighting. At the top of the pile are Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves but they were so thoroughly dominated by Georges St. Pierre its impossible to argue that they deserve to fight for the title right now.

Matt Hughes could be an option here, but he hinted at an upcoming bout against someone he has never fought before. Besides do we really want to see St. Pierre Hughes IV?

That leaves the bottom half of the top-ten for a contender to emerge.

Josh Koshcheck is fighting Frank Trigg, not exactly a top welterweight but Koscheck was on the road to a title shot until Paulo Thiago knocked his blond fro off. Speaking of Paulo Thiago his lop-sided loss to Jon Fitch knocks him out of the running.

What about the former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit? He's a possibility but he lost his UFC debut to Kampmann and Martin has only two fights at 170lbs. Does Kampmann really deserve a title shot if he beats Paul Daley, a fighter whose two most notable fights are both losses to Strikeforce's Nick Thompson and Jake Shields. Seems hard to justify.

This situation is so maddening it makes your blood boil and speaking of high temperatures what about Karo "The Heat" Parisyan. He is fresh off his suspension and if he beats Dustin Hazlett, an up-and-comer himself, at UFC 106 could Karo find his long lost title shot?

Then there is Dan Hardy. The English prospect is ranked as the #11 welterweight and is set to fight Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 105. But would the UFC really send their second biggest U.K. draw off to the slaughter house called St. Pierreville?

How about a dark horse candidate in Brock Larson. The former WEC fighter will do battle at Fight Night 19 but Larson has lost to Carlos Condit.

It's not just contenders. Georges St. Pierre is coming off a tweaked adductor muscle at UFC 100 so his return to the Octagon could be middle 2010 as oppose to January or February. Perhaps this will be a secret blessing as it will give some time for the UFC to figure out who will fight the champion next. After listing all the potential opponents one thing is clear, without the Swick/Kampmann fight all the welterweight contenders need at least two more wins to justify a title shot. 

This would open the door for St. Pierre to headline the Montreal card in in April or Vancouver early next summer and that is a good thing for the UFC.

On the other hand an added delay could lead the welterweight division into a round-robin from hell with all the contenders beating one another.

WKR "Weighs In" further on Swick's injury and what it means for the 170lbs. division. ed. note - updated with picture