Signatures are not yet in place, but the sport's heavyweight ruler for the last six years is tapped to defend his mantle against Josh Barnett at Affliction's third offering on Aug. 1. The bout would be Emelianenko's third consecutive contest against a former UFC heavyweight champion.
2. Andrei Arlovski (15-6)
Despite his brutal and deflating KO loss to Fedor Emelianenko in January, Arlovski will look to remain active against quality opposition. The "Pitbull" steps onto Strikeforce's June 6 card on short notice to take on unbeaten prospect Brett Rogers.
3. Josh Barnett (24-5)
With any luck, Barnett's next action will be a long-awaited bout with Fedor Emelianenko on Aug. 1 for Affliction. Anything less would be unfortunate both for fans, and for a desperate Affliction.
4. Frank Mir (12-3)
A knee injury postponed Mir’s May matchup with Brock Lesnar. Now, the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion will seek to unify both versions of the promotion’s title when he rematches Lesnar at UFC 100 on July 11.
5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1, 1 NC)
Whether it will wind up being the fight which fans had long hoped for remains to be seen, but two of the sport’s most enduring icons will square off at UFC 102 in August when Nogueira finally meets up with Randy Couture.
6. Brock Lesnar (3-1)
The former World Wrestling Entertainment star got a bit of bad news when his UFC heavyweight title rematch with Frank Mir was postponed due to injury. Lesnar will get the chance to become the lone undisputed UFC heavyweight king come July 11 at UFC 100.
7. Randy Couture (16-9)
His bout with Nogueira is long overdue. Hopefully, when “The Natural” and “Minotauro” square off at UFC 102 in August, the clash of heavyweight legends will not past its expiration date.
8. Tim Sylvia (24-5)
Not having seen action since his blowout loss to Fedor Emelianenko last July, the former UFC heavyweight champion is tracking down competition of a different sort. He’ll box 1988 Olympic gold medalist Ray Mercer on June 13.
9. Shane Carwin (11-0)
Just when it looked as if he were on the ropes, Carwin turned out the lights on Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96. The victory gave the touted heavyweight prospect his eleventh stoppage win in as many fights.
10. Alistair Overeem (29-11, 1 NC)
Overeem was originally tabbed to defend his Strikeforce heavyweight title on June 6 against prospect Brett Rogers. However, a scuffle in a Dutch nightclub resulted in an infection in his hand that nearly required amputation. We're just thankful that "The Demolition Man" will keep both hammers, instead of one.
Other contenders: Junior dos Santos, Aleksander Emelianenko, Jeff Monson, Ben Rothwell, Fabricio Werdum.