Prospects stand in line for title shot

SEATTLE - Changing of the guard.

Ultimate Fighting Championship play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg repeated the cliche during Saturday's Fox broadcast so often that it became both a Twitter hashtag and a punchline on social media throughout the evening.

The phrase was quite apropos, however. The national television audience provided the perfect platform for mega prospects Rory MacDonald and Alexander Gustafsson to officially state their case that they had made the leap to legitimate contenders.

Each was matched up with a perfect opponent to support the claim. MacDonald, 23, and Gustafsson, 25, both came through with decisive victories over former champions.

Both are now in prime position to fight for a title, though each faces unique obstacles to actually getting that chance.

MacDonald's situation is the more complicated of the two.

Johny Hendricks has already been named the No. 1 contender in the welterweight division. Also, Nick Diaz is due to return from a one-year marijuana suspension in early 2013 and would make for the most lucrative fight against welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

Indications from UFC president Dana White are that Diaz will get that fight.

That puts MacDonald in a logjam of contenders, and that's not even his biggest problem. St. Pierre is MacDonald's friend and teammate, and it is unknown what would happen if he earns a title fight and St. Pierre still holds the belt.

"I don't know. I'm not there yet, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there," MacDonald said. "But I don't feel that I need to fight Georges. I don't think it's going to happen, it won't happen. Me and him are friends. He's done a lot for me and I'm very grateful for it, I'm not going to stab him in the back.

"And I don't want to wreck my opportunity training at Tristar. They've done a lot of things for me, so I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens. There's lots of fights for me."

He knows there will be plenty of time to think about that down the road. For now, MacDonald seems content to be done with BJ Penn.

"It was a big opportunity for me, and I think I made good on it," he said. "I performed well and got a good victory. He's no steppingstone, just another fight in my career. That's all it is."

Instead, MacDonald wants another shot at former interim champion Carlos Condit, who handed him the only loss of his career.

Gustafsson's championship scenario is a bit clearer. White said last week Gustafsson would absolutely become the top contender to the light heavyweight belt with a win over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Now, he must wait for Chael Sonnen and champion Jon Jones to finish coaching the next edition of "The Ultimate Fighter," and then fight each other for the belt.

Gustafsson could wait around for the winner, putting his title shot sometime during the summer, barring injuries.

He's more likely to take a fight, citing the fact he had not fought since April before Saturday and doesn't want any more down time.

White hinted Gustafsson might be a possible replacement for Dan Henderson against Lyoto Machida in February in case Henderson is unable to fight, though Henderson quickly responded on Twitter that he is doing fine.

Gustafsson finally feels he is ready to fight for a belt, though. Despite the lofty opinion of him held by many pundits, Gustafsson has often said he knew he wasn't ready for a title bout.

That changed Saturday night, when he said his time has indeed come.

"All I can say is I'm ready for a title shot. When I get a chance to fight for it, I'll be more than ready," he said. "It's how I feel and how I've put everything together now. I'm happy for this fight, even though I made some mistakes that I'm going to correct.

"But I've won six in a row and I just feel ready, and I will be more than ready when I get the chance."

Both Gustafsson and MacDonald will certainly get that chance eventually. The only question now is when.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.