Rua Next for Chuck Liddell-Rampage Jackson Winner?

With UFC 71 just a day away, the Ultimate Fighting Championship seems to have more momentum than ever before. So how will UFC keep that momentum going? The key will be finding the right opponent for the winner of tomorrow night's main event between Chuck Liddell and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

UFC president Dana White said we'll find out as soon as the fight is over who the next contender for the light heavyweight title will be:

White announced that the winner of Saturday night's light heavyweight title fight between champion Chuck Liddell and Jackson will get a surprise challenge in what looks to be the UFC's most recent pick-ups.

"We already have a challenger waiting for the winner on Saturday and we will make the announcement after the bout," White said.

With news coming yesterday that UFC has signed Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, he seems like a slam dunk choice to take on the Liddell-Jackson winner. Except for one thing: What if Jackson wins? Liddell is the sport's biggest star, so wouldn't it make a lot more sense for UFC to give Liddell a rematch if he loses his title tomorrow night?

Maybe, maybe not. One of the reasons mixed martial arts is expanding while boxing is contracting is that there's one major governing body in mixed martial arts -- UFC -- and that governing body pretty much controls who the fighters fight. In boxing fans are often deprived of the best fights because the boxers take the easy money, but that's not the case in UFC. No matter who wins tomorrow night, UFC should have a good fight in place to build on its momentum.