Carlos Condit is the UFC's newest champion. The promotion will have eight belt holders in 2012 for the first time in the promotion's history.

With the introduction of flyweight this year, 2012 will be the first time in the promotion’s history that there will be eight UFC champions. Read on as The MMA Blog takes a look at the path to the title in all eight weight divisions.

Flyweight

The blueprint to crown the first-ever UFC flyweight champion is already set in stone, and it harkens back to the old tournament format of the original UFC. At UFC on FX 2, Joseph Benavidez will battle Yasuhiro Urushitani and Demetrious Johnson faces Ian McCall with the winner of each matchup fighting each other later in the year to be crowned the best 125 pounder in the world. Since the first champion hasn’t even been crowned yet, there’s no point of speculating too far in the future of the division, but guys like ‘The Ultimate Fighter 14′ winner John Dodson could definitely challenge for the title down the road after the dust from this tournament has settled.

Bantamweight

Reigning champion Dominick Cruz takes on Urijah Faber in a trilogy match this summer after the culmination of the ‘The Ultimate Fighter 15,’ but in the meantime the next title challenger will need to be churned out. After dispatching of the very tough Scott Jorgensen, Renan Barao is definitely at the top of this list. He’s won 28 fights in a row and is 3-0 inside the Octagon, so he’s very worthy of being the next man to fight for the belt. But with Cruz and Faber not fighting for a few more months, Barao should take another fight in the meantime to keep active. The winner of the Miguel Torres vs. Michael McDonald fight at UFC 145 makes sense. Torres, a former WEC bantamweight champion, is 2-1 in the UFC, with the one loss pretty controversial and McDonald, while only 21-years old, is 3-0, so both of these fighters are worthy of a title shot with another victory. In a relatively shallow division, pitting Barao against the winner of that fight should happen — perhaps even on the undercard of the Faber vs. Cruz III event so the timing is just right.

Featherweight

After Jose Aldo demolished Chad Mendes at UFC 142, it’s fair to question whether there really is a guy that can dethrone the 145-pound kingpin. After all, with Mendes’ vaunted wrestling so many people thought he would be able to exploit Aldo on the ground just like Mark Hominick did at UFC 129. But Mendes never even came close as he wasn’t able to take Aldo down — and if a guy like Mendes can’t, then who can? Well, maybe no one. However, they can certainly try. The most obvious next guy in line is Hatsu Hioki, the consensus No. 2 ranked featherweight in the world who battles Bart Palaszewski at UFC 144. Should the Japanese import defeat “Bartimus” in impressive fashion, or if Palaszewski is able to do the same to Hioki, either veteran could be next for a title shot. Then there’s also a trio of young guys to consider– Dustin Poirier (23), Erik Koch (23), and Chan-Sung Jung (24). Poirier is 4-0 in the UFC but says he wants more cage time, so that leaves him out of the equation for now. “The Korean Zombie” is 2-0 in the Octagon with a ‘Submission of the Year’ performance and a six-second knockout of Hominick that, coupled with his popularity, could vaunt him right up to a title fight. And then there’s Koch, who was supposed to fight Poirier at UFC 143 but pulled out due to injury in a bout many pegged as the next contender’s bout, and whose only career loss came to the aforementioned Mendes. But really, these three guys are all very young and need more experience, so the smartest thing may be to have a veteran like Hioki or Palaszweski test Aldo while developing the three aforementioned youngsters for a future title fight (and yes, I realize Aldo is only 25 himself, but he’s just a freak of nature and, at this point, can’t be compared to).

Lightweight

155-pound kingpin Frankie Edgar will put his belt on the line for the fourth time when he takes on rising star Ben Henderson at UFC 144 later this month. And while this will be a terrific fight for sure, there are a bunch of fantastic fights that can be made after it in the stacked lightweight division. On that same UFC 144 card, Joe Lauzon battles Anthony Pettis, and since it’s at the same event, timing dictates that, with an impressive victory, the winner could be next in line for a title shot. Since Lauzon is the definition of finisher and Pettis is one of the most flashy strikers in the game, the odds are this is going to be a great fight, and if lives up to expectations then fans will be clamouring for a fight against the Edgar vs. Henderson winner. But if it somehow doesn’t deliver, which would be surprising but not unprecedented, there’s a fight pitting Jim Miller against Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 3 that is also being set up to deliver fireworks. Miller bounced back big time with a submission victory over Melvin Guillard at UFC on FX 1 while Diaz has looked like a new fighter since dropping back down to 155, submitting Takanori Gomi and decisioning Donald Cerrone. Both of these fighters deserve a shot at gold with a win over each other, but timing means the Edgar vs. Henderson winner will have to wait around for an extra two months. If they don’t want to wait, then expect the Lauzon vs. Pettis winner to get a shot first. But if they do wait, a fight against either Miller or Diaz in the late summer would make sense. And then don’t forget about guys coming off tough losses like Gray Maynard, Clay Guida and Cerrone and two men undefeated at lightweight in the UFC in Jacob Volkmann and Edson Barboza. With so many exciting matchups to be possibly made at this weight class, the fans won’t lose.

Welterweight

Champion Georges St-Pierre is out until November following ACL surgery, so in the interim Carlos Condit, who just beat Nick Diaz at UFC 143, is the big dog at 170 pounds. The only problem is, that’s a hell of a long wait for Condit’s next fight, and fans are already clamouring for a rematch in the meantime while St-Pierre heals. It’s either that or Condit waits nine months for the champion — or he could fight another challenger. There’s Johny Hendricks, there’s Jake Ellenberger should he get by Diego Sanchez, and there’s always Josh Koscheck lurking around. All three of those guys are tough competitors, but let’s be honest here — everyone wants to see Diaz vs. St-Pierre. That’s the grudge match, that’s the fight the fans want, and that’s why the UFC is going to set up a rematch sometime this summer for Condit to fight Diaz against and prove to everyone he can conclusively defeat him. Only then will fans give Condit the credit and respect he deserves, and only then will anyone consider him a  legitimate threat to dethrone St-Pierre.

Middleweight

The rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is finally happening this year, probably in June in a soccer stadium in Brazil, and it’s likely to be one of the most-watched UFC events in the promotion’s history. And while the middleweight division has historically been considered one of the UFC’s weakest, especially due to Silva’s dominance, the fact remains there are still legitimate threats to his belt. Take Mark Munoz, who has gone 7-1 as a middleweight inside the Octagon — he was set to fight Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2 before pulling out with injury, and with his impeccable wrestling pedigree mixed in with his heavy hands and brutal ground-and-pound, he definitely has what it takes to win the title. Then there’s Michael Bisping, the man who replaced Munoz against Sonnen. He put up a hell of a fight against “The Gangster from West Linn,” and while he’s coming off a loss, his stock actually was raised in defeat. And don’t forget another UFC on FOX 2 competitor, Chris Weidman, who took a fight against perennial top-10 middleweight Demian Maia on only 10 days’ notice and ran right through him, even after dropping over 30 pounds in those 10 days to make the weight cut. He’s 4-0 now in the UFC and with his wrestling background is another legit threat to the title. It would make sense to put Munoz against Weidman to fight the Sonnen vs. Silva winner, but since Munoz won’t be able to return until June, Weidman is likely to take a fight in the interim. If he does take another fight, and if he wins, or even if he elects to wait, then give him Munoz and give the victor the next title shot, because whoever emerges from that prospective fight would definitely have what it takes to be a UFC champion.

Light heavyweight

The path to the light heavyweight title has already been laid out by UFC president Dana White pretty clearly. Jon Jones will face his arch rival Rashad Evans at UFC 145, and then when that feud is settled once and for all Dan Henderson will fight the winner. Both are guaranteed blockbuster fights, so the light heavyweight division is in for a year of more excitement yet again. But don’t forget Alexander Gustafsson, should the young Swede get by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC on FUEL TV 2. If he passes that test then he’s a legitimate title challenger, especially considering how young he is, how big he is, and how much he has improved from fight-to-fight. After that, however, things look more bleak for the division as former challengers coming off losses like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rua could be in the mix with a few more impressive victories. Hopefully, some new blood new will emerge at some point this year as a potential new challenger for Jones or whoever else is holding the belt.

Heavyweight

Champion Junior dos Santos is recovering from knee surgery and should be ready to face No.1 contender Alistair Overeem sometime this summer. While that fight is a guaranteed blockbuster that will likely end with one man sleeping on the mat, the winner still needs a decent opponent to fight. And with Cain Velasquez losing, Brock Lesnar retiring and Shane Carwin out of action, it’s likely to be someone else. The bout that makes most sense is Fabricio Werdum vs. Frank Mir. Werdum looked great in his first fight since returning to the UFC, dispatching of the hard-headed Roy Nelson with a unanimous decision win, this coming after he went 3-1 during his Strikeforce tenure including a historic victory over former world No.1 Fedor Emelianenko. Mir, on the other hand, is coming off the most impressive victory of his storied career when he broke Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm at UFC 140, and before that he decisioned Nelson and knocked out Mirko Cro Cop during this nice win streak he has going. In a battle of two grapplers with knockout power, a Mir vs. Werdum fight could be a barnburner, and with no real other alternatives that make sense, this is the fight to make to decide who should be next in line for that 265-pound title.