Top Five Most Anticipated UFC Fights for 2013: A Fan's View (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

The final nine months of 2012 will undoubtedly be filled with exciting title bouts, including Jon Jones versus Rashad Evans and Urijah Faber against Dominick Cruz, but I'm already looking forward to the fights to come in 2013.

UFC president Dana White.
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Here's a look at the top five most anticipated UFC fights that will likely happen in 2013:

Anderson Silva vs Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre is targeting a November return to the octagon after extensive rehab on his knee sidelined him for much of 2012.

While the UFC has not yet confirmed a fight between him and Carlos Condit, it only makes sense being that the latter is the interim welterweight champ in St-Pierre's absence from the sport. St-Pierre recently tweeted "Only halfway through rehab, but my goal now has a name, date and place: UFC 154, NOVEMBER 17, MONTREAL!!!"

Anderson Silva also has a title defense scheduled for 2012, a long-awaited rematch with Chael Sonnen scheduled for June 23 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

If both Silva and St-Pierre earn victories in their upcoming fights, I believe a superfight between the two men would finally happen in early 2013. "We could do Canada, and we could do Brazil, too," UFC President Dana White said in an MMAJunkie.com interview. "We could do Las Vegas, and it would be big. We could do Dallas, and it would be big. We could do the Staples Center, and it would be big. There are so many obstacles in the way of this happening. It's something that's cool to talk about, but until it becomes a reality, I have no idea what we do or how we do it."

Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit

While some fight fans were turned off by the tactical gameplan Condit took in his fight against Diaz in February of 2012, no one can deny that it was tough to determine a clear winner of the 25-minute brawl.

In the days and weeks that followed, Diaz fans and supporters took to Twitter and other MMA forums that their hero was the true victor of the contest because he pressed the action for much of the five rounds.

Condit fans say their man deserved the victory because he got the better of the striking exchanges and implemented a smart gameplan to avoid taking damage from Diaz.

The only thing that's for sure is that a rematch would settle the score once and for all. Diaz tested positive for marijuana following his 2012 fight against Condit, which will keep him sidelined until early 2013.

Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate

I believe this will be the first women's MMA fight in the UFC, and it will happen sometime in 2013.

When Tate and Rousey went toe-to-toe in a Strikeforce cage in 2012, fight fans and non-fans alike were absolutely captivated by the action. Both women feature jaw-dropping good looks, engaging personalities and a true dislike for one another, which makes for excellent pre-fight hype.

Rousey submitted Tate by armbar to win the Strikeforce women's bantamweight belt, and the latter's arm was severely torqued in the losing effort.

Rousey will square off against Sarah Kaufman before the end of 2012, while Tate is still on the recovery trail and doesn't have another opponent lined up for this year. She'll likely need another victory under her belt before she gets another crack at Rousey, but this is a rematch that the fans truly want to see.

Jon Jones vs Anderson Silva

If this fight ever happens, it will likely be towards the end of 2013. UFC President Dana White doesn't feel the timing is right at this time because of age and weight classes differences between Jones and Silva, but what better way to represent a "changing of the guard" than to have these two battle it out?

By the end of 2013, Silva will be 38 years old and Jones will still be in his mid-20s, so the window for this bout to happen is rapidly closing. If this clash ever happens, it will basically have to be in 2013.

"I just think Jon Jones is young," White said in a December, 2011 interview with mmajunkie.com. "He's 24 years old. He's just getting out there and fighting all the best in the light heavyweight division.

"What people have to realize, too, is Anderson Silva is 37 years old. They're in two different weightclasses."

Frank Mir vs Alistair Overeem

If Mir gets past Cain Velasquez and Overeem picks up a win over Dos Santos on the UFC 146 card in May, I would bet that Mir and Overeem will square off in early 2013 for the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt.

Mir took a couple verbal jabs at Overeem back in late-2011, where he said that the latter's "cardio is going to suck [after wrestling with Brock Lesnar for a while]. I've seen guys with muscles like that, and that's why he slows down."

None of the above fights are confirmed. They are simply a fan's take on five fights I can see happening in 2013. What other fights are you excited about for next year? Let me know in the comments.

Eric Holden is a lifelong UFC fan and supporter of the sport of mixed martial arts. Follow him on Twitter @ericholden.

Sources

www.sherdog.com, Sherdog, fighter stats

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