Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Junior dos Santos told you so. | Photo: Dave Mandel

The stage couldn't have been much bigger for Junior dos Santos, and Brazil's new heavyweight king made sure to shine in primetime.

It took just 64 seconds, but in Anaheim, Calif., dos Santos wiped out Cain Velasquez, handing the AKA product his first career loss. Better for the Brazilian, it came in front of tens of millions of MMA fans watching around the world as the UFC kicked off its primetime, network partnership with Fox.

Now, dos Santos will await the winner of December's clash between former champion Brock Lesnar and former Strikeforce and K-1 World Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem. However, he's not the only divisional king getting a new opponent firmed up.

Middleweight ace Anderson Silva might not be too fond of it, but UFC boss Dana White confirmed that he will rematch rival Chael Sonnen in 2012. Fellow Brazilian and featherweight alpha dog Jose Aldo will defend his gold come the new year in Rio, against Chad Mendes, while lightweight leader Frankie Edgar has Ben Henderson to worry about when the UFC heads to Japan in February. Even flyweight pacesetter Ian McCall has a new opponent, Josh Rave, for his Dec. 2 Tachi Palace Fights title defense.

However, the biggest recent championship revelation for 2012 is the fact that in light of his sensational beatdown of B.J. Penn at UFC 137, Nick Diaz will in fact challenge Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight crown. Come the new year, Stockton's finest fighter will finally get his chance to become UFC champion.

MMA Heavyweight Rankings