Title shots. Is the challenger always deserving? Moreover, it's not that he doesn't deserve it it's that someone else might deserve it first. Lesser known fighters, with less marketability and not enough superficial attributes to appeal to the impressionable, wide-eyed and short-attention-spanned populace get shoved aside in favor of the big shiny hero. But if he's good and can muster the skill to stick around for a while, he'll get his chance . . . eventually.

But who currently should get that shot?

The Middleweight division is now stacked compared to what it used to be with fighters like Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, to name a few. There are plenty of interesting matchups we all look forward to seeing. I have previously overlooked Yushin Okami, as I figured he lost to the 'gatekeeper' so why should he get through to the estate? But after some rumination I now think otherwise . . .

I keep trying to process my thoughts about UFC 88: Breakthrough but keep dwelling on the wreckage of Chuck Liddell and shake myself from staring pensively into oblivion. Not from shock but from disappointment. The simple fact is: I hate seeing Chuck lose. I don't give a crap about the hype machine which follows him around but I do give a damn that Chuck is an inimitable character, a true fighter for the love of the game, win or lose, and he'll fight anyone, fearlessly. And that's what it's about, the raw emotion and energy exchanged to survive within the parameters of an open-ended sport, one with infinite possibilities.

Despite this, I thought Rashad had just as good a chance of finishing Chuck (albeit not in such spectacular fashion) than Chuck did of him. I think he's been underrated and still might even be—as some people are spouting rubbish that he didn't deserve to win because he was fighting almost Machida-esque and got a lucky punch. Nonsense. And for what it's worth, I am pro-Machida (although I'm inclined to believe that no one should be able to claim an undefeated record for too long, in the UFC in particular).

And just as Rashad had a good chance against Chuck, he's got a good chance against Forrest and it isn't so unlikely that Rashad will be holding up the Light Heavyweight belt. People laugh and think it's preposterous but he's that close. Personally, I'd prefer to see Forrest retain it but the beasts are beating at his door and they want what he's got so he might soon get ripped to shreds.