6. Shane Carwin
Carwin has suffered two consecutive losses and needs a win in his next bout to stay relevant amongst top UFC heavyweights. He has no scheduled date for his return, but he’s looking to get back in the cage near the end of the year.
7. Frank Mir
Mir will have a chance to defy the doubters when he faces Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140 in December. A dominant win could propel Mir back into the upper echelon of the division and perhaps earn him another crack at the heavyweight championship.
Nogueira says his dominant and emotional win over Brendan Schaub at UFC 134 was a career resurgence. Finally healthy after several years defined by pain and medical procedures, Nogueira gets the rematch with Frank Mir he’s long been waiting for. Is a healthy Nogueira competitive with Mir? We’re going to find out in December.
9. Josh Barnett
Barnett’s victory over Sergei Kharitonov in the Strikeforce grand prix semi-finals was much like his win over Brett Rogers: effortless and pain-free. The win for the newly-dubbed “Warmaster” was his eighth in a row, but he’ll face a much sterner test when he faces Daniel Cormier in the finals in early 2012. Barnett likely doesn’t have the wrestling skills to take Cormier to the canvas, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to outstrike the former Olympian.
10. Daniel Cormier
Cormier’s destruction of Antonio Silva was his coming-out party, serving notice that there’s a dangerous new force in the heavyweight division. His wrestling is the best in the game, but it was his ever-improving striking game that drew comparisons to Fedor Emelianenko. Cormier’s got nearly unlimited potential to be one of the best heavyweights in the sport.