The UFC's surprise signing of former Pride lightweight standout, Takanori Gomi, has set off a plethora of rumors surrounding the UFC lightweight division.

Much of the discussion around Gomi has focused on who his first opponent will be and whether the UFC wants him to contend for the lightweight title as soon as possible. One potential opponent for Takanori Gomi is former #1 contender Kenny Florian who recently defeated Clay Guida at UFC 107. Florain's public comments indicate that he would be more than thrilled to fight Gomi. As Kenny is from New England, a probable venue for a potential Florian-Gomi bout could be Boston, Massachusetts in August.

There have been whispers that the winner of the possible Florian vs. Gomi fight could see themselves fighting for the lightweight title. If that ends up being the case, one could easily envision a dream scenario of B.J. Penn fighting Takanori Gomi as the main event of a UFC Hawaiian fight card. But this is just pure speculation.

The next rumor deals with who will be the future opponent for current UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn. Two names are at the top of the list: Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. The staff of MMA Live believe that Frankie Edgar will get the first shot even though Maynard holds a victory over Frankie. Why? Well, Edgar has a more "exciting" style (read as: he will stand and box with Penn) than Gray "The Wrestler" Maynard.

Maynard is currently set to fight Nate Diaz at UFC Fight Night 20. As of this moment Gray is saying all the right things about the risk of being passed over for a title shot if he defeats Diaz on January 11th. Yet, there is always the possibility that a highlight reel victory could earn Maynard a title shot. Of course, if Gray pushes too hard to try and achieve that picture book victory he could find himself at the wrong end of a Diaz triangle choke. 

Whatever ends up being true from this rumor deluge the UFC's lightweight division certainly became a hot topic this past weekend.