Tough questions and trying times abound for UFC's top contenders

UFC welterweight contender Jake Ellenberger showed up backstage at UFC on FOX 7 this past Saturday night looking like he’d knocked off a Brooks Brothers on his way to the arena. Picture one of those ads for $400 slacks you might see in Esquire, then throw in some cauliflower ear.

He had to look “fresh,” he told a group of reporters, “because I’m the next champ.”

Yeah, about that.

The thing about being a top welterweight in the UFC these days is that you don’t know exactly what the landscape will look like by the time you get in a position to challenge for the title. Just ask Johny Hendricks, who is practically staging a sit-in at the No. 1 contender spot. The man has won six straight in the octagon, gradually eliminating any other potential challenger for Georges St-Pierre‘s 170-pound belt, and yet he’s still not guaranteed to be the next one who steps in the cage with champ.

According to St-Pierre’s comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Hendricks will “probably” be his next opponent. According to UFC President Dana White, GSP could also decide to go another way, without having to give up his title to do it.

“Maybe he wants to fight [UFC middleweight champion] Anderson [Silva] if Anderson wins,” White said this past week.

Or, you know, maybe he won’t exactly want to, but will get talked into it by the promise of big money and the chance to catapult himself so high on the list of pound-for-pound greats that Jon Jones would need a telescope just to get a glimpse of him.

Either way, it’s starting to seem like the number one contender spot could be a lonely place to be in the welterweight division, which is why it’s a little weird that the men most affected — guys like Hendricks and Ellenberger, who need at least a little cooperation from the champ in order to achieve their dreams — can’t convince themselves to get or stay angry at the man.

“If [St-Pierre] does choose to fight Anderson, as [trainer] Firas [Zahabi] said, he might be done after that,” Ellenberger told MMAjunkie.com (mmajunkie.com). “I don’t know, I was hoping that I’d be able to still potentially fight him before he retires, but I respect his choice. He’s done what not many people, or any have done in this sport.

“… As a competitor, I don’t want to see him do that. But if I was in his shoes, that’s probably what I’d do. It’s like, really, what else can you accomplish? Being one of the best fighters, pound-for-pound, in the world, fight Anderson Silva and then retire. Unless he just wants to continue to compete. In his position there’s just nowhere but down. You can’t really get any higher.”

Even Hendricks, who’s been left in limbo after his win over Carlos Condit, and who said he thinks St-Pierre should vacate the title if he wants to fight Silva [http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/04/johny-hendricks-wants-st-pierre-to-vacate-belt-if-silva-superfight-happens], couldn’t exactly blame GSP for considering that superfight.

“I don’t mind that he goes for Anderson Silva,” Hendricks said. “I understand why he would. I don’t know if he has a good chance to win, but if that’s what makes him say, ‘Hey, I really want to do that,’ go for it. I just don’t want to be sitting here fighting for No. 1 contender spots while he’s doing that.”

Don’t act like that can’t happen. We’ve all seen the way that top contender spot in the UFC can become like a title without any of the perks. Other fighters will still call you out, hoping to seize your position, only you don’t get to call yourself champ in the meantime. You also don’t reap the economic benefits. You end up with something valuable, and yet completely intangible, that you stand to lose every time you accept another fight, whether out of boredom or pressure or financial necessity. The one and only bright spot is that you don’t have to worry about lugging the title belt through airport security.

The other problem with holding onto that number one contender spot is that the longer you have to wait (say, for instance, while the champ is off filming movies and rubbing elbows with Hollywood stars), the longer the line behind you grows.

For instance, Ellenberger’s slated to face Rory MacDonald at the UFC on FOX 8 event in July. And, he said, “I’ve been told that [the winner] will be the number one contender.”

See? There’s yet another problem with being the top contender. Since it’s just words, there’s not a lot to stop other people from laying claim to the very promise you had to bleed for.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Jake Ellenberger)