2010: The Year of the Non-Dominant UFC Champion?

We are more than half way through with the year 2010 (time flies!) and we have seen every UFC title defended within the last year or so.  In that time frame, we've seen Lyoto Machida dethroned brutally in the first round, BJ Penn ousted as lightweight champion, Brock Lesnar on the brink of a one-sided beatdown, Anderson Silva picked apart and beaten for nearly five rounds by Chael Sonnen, and Georges St. Pierre's stock to some fans dropping due to his conservative style.  At the end of 2009, most people felt the only belts that were somewhat in danger of changing hands in the near future were the light heavyweight and heavyweight (mostly due to Brock's illness and long layoff).  Now, we have seen some of the most dramatic UFC title fights in recent history.  It's a true testament to the evolution of mixed martial arts that such elite fighters as Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, and to a lesser extent Georges St. Pierre are being pushed to their limits and forced to use every weapon in their arsenal to get by their opposition.  The question, as we move forward after what was a stellar UFC 117 card and main event, is whether or not a dominant champion will exist again in the UFC? 

In my humble opinion, the fact that more and more fighters are closing the gap as far as skills will prove that on any given night, there truly is no definitive dominant fighter, as the style differential between mixed martial artists is growing slimmer and slimmer.  Not to mention, the intricate gameplans laid out by trainers and coaches have proven that weaknesses can be subsided and strengths can be amplified.  Think of this, in a matter of months we have seen pound for pound mainstays either pushed into a panic mode not seldom seen (Anderson Silva), proven to be careless and beaten (Fedor Emelianenko), or simply out gameplanned (BJ Penn).  Now that Shane Carwin proved Brock Lesnar is very hittable, will future opponents expose this?  With Shogun Rua's knees in such bad shape, will future opponents be able to exploit his reoccurring injuries?  Is Frankie Edgar simply too small in the lightweight division to have a worthwhile run?  Even after dominating them, will GSP have what it takes to replicate his strategy against upcoming contenders Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch?  With so many guys stepping up at their opportunities, it will be an extremely interesting few years in every division Zuffa has under their umbrella (maybe excluding the featherweight division) and the year of the dominant champion seems to be coming to an abrupt end.  So as you ponder the future, do you MMA4Realers think their will be a current champion that remains at that spot this time next year?