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In keeping with the theme of the first few months of the new year things are getting moving again.
The Light Heavyweight division is one of the divisions that was halted when the champion decided to jump to a new division and try to become a double champion.
Daniel Cormier was by far the best light heavyweight in the division beating every challenger in his way aside from one man, and that man has a complicated history with PEDs.
Cormier had little left to prove in the division and so he went to become one of the few fighters two hold two belts simultaneously.
That decision left the light heavyweight division in holding pattern as nobody knew if Cormier was going to return or not.
Was he going to come back to fight and clear things up or was he going to abandon his old weight class altogether?
Cormier would never really be given much of an option as he took the heavyweight belt but soon after saw Jon Jones return to the UFC.
Jones fought Alexander Gustafsson in his return with the fight giving Jones the light heavyweight belt that he never really lost.
Although it was controversial to bring Jones back and give him that shot the fact is that his win brought some motion into the division.
With Jones at the top, the work is beginning to clear out the latest crop of challengers from the division.
Gustafsson was the first and Jones handled him much better than he had the first time they faced off.
The next one will be Anthony Smith who is taking his win streak to a title shot next month as he hopes to end the reign of Jones.
As Jones looks to clear out all of these challengers the line up is beginning to form behind him as top fighters finally see their shot forming.
Two of those fighters will be in the spotlight as the UFC heads to Prague for a card showcasing the best of Europe on the UFC’s roster.
One of those fighters is Jan Błachowicz who has quietly built an impressive resume in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
Although he hasn’t been the most active fighter over the last two years, he has put together a four-fight win streak.
He has plenty of power to knock out most of the division but where he really shines is on the mat.
In those four wins, he has submitted Devin Clark and Nikita Krylov while taking tow more decision wins.
He now looks to fight close to home against a Brazilian who had one of the best years in 2018 although few people are talking about him.
Thiago Santos fought five times in 2018 winning all but one of those fights as he looked to become a contender.
IT is never easy to make enough noise to break through the crowd but fighting five times in a single year is a good start.
Winning those fights have put him in the running especially with a total of seven wins in his last eight fights.
One of those wins came over the top contender, Anthony Smith while his last two were against promising names like Eryk Anders and Jimi Manuwa.
Despite all of this he remains a fighter sitting on the outside looking in and this is his chance to really get his name into the hunt.
With Błachowicz in the top four of the division, this is a chance for Santos to throw his name into the top contenders.
For Błachowicz this is a chance to prove that he belongs among the top fighters in the division.
Either fighter could easily be the next in line for the title and with things finally moving at the top that shot could come sooner rather than later.
In only a few weeks Jones will fight his latest contender and if he wins it will open another spot for a contender.
Błachowicz and Santos will look to make an impression in this fight in order to put their names right in that spot.
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