It was only about a week ago that fans were looking at UFC on FOX 4 with a bit of disappointment as a seemingly unimportant main event between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon Vera was set to headline the network television fight card.
We later learned that the winner of the Rua-Vera fight would be the No. 1 contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
While that added some interest to the fight card, many fans were very frustrated with Vera—who had only won one of his previous four fights—being a potential challenger for Jon Jones. Those against the decision flooded Twitter, imploring UFC President Dana White to reconsider.
On Tuesday afternoon, the fans’ wishes were granted as White announced that the most impressive winner of the two fights between Brandon Vera and Shogun Rua, and between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, would be the one who gets the next UFC title fight.
With all four fighters now in play for a shot at Jon Jones, the conversation can now begin—who is the most likely fighter to leave UFC on Fox 4 as the No. 1 contender for Jon Jones’ UFC title?
To answer that question, here is a power ranking of each of the four contenders and their likelihood to be Jon Jones’ next opponent.