FanHouse ShaneCarwin

With heavyweight kingpin Brock Lesnar on the shelf for the forseeable future, the UFC is likely moving towards an interim heavyweight title future, but who exactly that future involves is anyone's guess.

FanHouse spoke to several sources in the last 48 hours, and it seems that the organization is no closer to having any type of clarity in the title picture as they continue to deal with illnesses, injuries and other issues that have suddenly crept into scheduling.

According to two sources close to the situation, the UFC's preference is an interim title bout between Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez to be held at UFC 110 on Feb. 21 in Sydney, Australia. But the UFC will have to wade through several difficulties in putting together such a matchup, which seems increasingly less likely to happen.

Brock Lesnar says he has the flu, and has been too ill to train effectively and prepare for the biggest challenger of his title reign: 6-foot-2, 260-pound Shane Carwin. Because of an extended illness, he's pulled out of their scheduled UFC 106 fight, leading to a postponement that will probably place the bout in the early part of the new year.

That seems perfectly rational and logical. But apparently it's not enough for some, all because of a video of Lesnar appearing at an Oct. 18 Minnesota Vikings game. The cynics believe that video is proof positive that Lesnar is healthy and that something else is afoot in regards to the date change.

What is with the MMA world lately that makes them want to turn every story into a soap opera?

DALLAS -- With a small sample size of fights to analyze, it's sometimes difficult to accurately assess whether a young fighter is a contender or pretender. But in the case of Junior Dos Santos, it seems safe to say he falls into the first category.

The Brazilian striker looked crisp and powerful in his demolition of Mirko Cro Cop. The Croatian verbally submitted after complaining of vision problems, but the outcome was virtually assured by then. Dos Santos was simply bigger, faster and better.