Consider 2009 the year of featherweight flux. Sengoku and Dream have staged a pair of tournaments that allowed new stars in the division to emerge, while young challengers like Jose Aldo, Rafael Assuncao and Josh Grispi have put themselves on the map inside World Extreme Cagefighting.

However, WEC champion Mike Thomas Brown will be sticking around. With his five-round unanimous verdict over Urijah Faber at WEC 41 on June 7, Brown has entrenched himself as the man to beat at 145 pounds.

The coming weeks will also redesign the heavyweight rankings, with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir 2 and Fedor Emelianenko-Josh Barnett all on the summer slate. However, heavy punching prospect Brett Rogers got a jump on things June 6, as “The Grim” needed just 22 seconds to spark perennial top heavyweight Andrei Arlovski and put his own touch on the divisional picture.