Sometimes, the next title contenders are obvious in a division. Take heavyweight for example: After Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez do battle, if Alistair Overeem is victorious in his fight against Antonio Silva, you know that Overeem will be fighting for the heavyweight title.
Sometimes it’s not so obvious, and an unknown comes up to fight for the title in almost no time. Nate Diaz is a perfect example. In 2011, he had just lost two straight at welterweight and decided to come back down to lightweight. Then, he won three straight and will be fighting for the lightweight title in just two weeks.
He was a sleeper pick for a title fight in 2012. Let’s take a look at some sleeper picks for 2013.