Whatever Happened to the Fighters of Tommorow?

Putting aside all Alan Moore-scripted Superman tales (for what it's worth, I enjoyed What Do You Get for the Man Who Has Everything much more), this is a list of fighters who have disappeared off the main stage of MMA. Some are set to make returns while others are still eluding the search parties.

1. Chris Leben - The bad boy turned "saint" has been absent from the octagon since his October 2008 loss to Michael Bisping. That fight was postponed three months after Leben got arrested stemming from a warrant out on him for a past DUI offense. He followed that up by testing positive for steroids after the Bisping fight, resulting in a nine month suspension. The guy just can't get ahead. Nevertheless, Leben is set to return the soonest of all our entrants, this weekend at UFC 102 against Jake Rosholt on the undercard. Fans of Bruce Buffer's pronunciation of Oahu, Hawaii take note.

2. Alistair Overeem - Possibly the fighter with the most rumored bouts in the past year, Overeem has yet to actually compete in MMA since a thrashing of the never ending tragedy that is Gary Goodridge on a smaller show in his home base of the Netherlands this past November. Following that, he briefly messed around in K-1, where he was undone by his immortal enemy, consistency, when he followed up an impressive win over then Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari on New Year's Eve with a loss to Remy Bonjasky in March. Over that period, everything under the sun has promised to include him with no result. Dana White talked of bringing him to the UFC. A rematch with Mirko "Cro-Cop" Filipovic seemingly loomed on the horizon after their no-contest previously in DREAM. The latest was when a hand injury forced him out of the biggest of them all, his first defense of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title against solid contender Fabricio Werdum on Strikeforce's August 15th show. Then talk shifted of him fighting Fedor Emelianenko after his Strikeforce signing, assuming the Russian would get an immediate title shot. However, Strikeforce officials have been cautious about that occurring, wanting instead to try and hype that fight, a dangerous proposition in a sport as unpredictable as MMA. While he's had trouble stringing together victories, Overeem is one of the few very well rounded heavyweights and can make a compelling matchup against anyone.

3. Dustin Hazelett - Kid Jiu-Jitsu looked to be submitting towards the elite in the welterweight division when a devastating ACL tear put him on the shelf indefinitely prior to his UFC 96 contest with Ben Saunders. Expected to be out for more than a year, good news surfaced this week when he was announced as the opponent for the high caliber Karo Parisyan, himself coming back from a steroid suspension. Hopefully the injury has fully healed and Hazelett can bring his exciting ground game back to a stagnant crop of UFC welterweights.

4. Alexsander Emelianenko - While older brother Fedor has moved increasingly into the American market after the collapse of PRIDE, Alexsander has been stalled by various issues that have kept him fighting on minor shows mainly in Russia. He was expected to compete on the first Affliction show, but was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission at the eleventh hour, attributed by him to a simple deadline mistake. In the aftermath, a prominent CSAC official stated that Emelianenko would not be allowed to fight anywhere in America, likely owing to something more than time conflicts. Affliction attempted to secure him for their second event, but once again he was denied a permit. Whether or not this is something that can be solved in the future is unknown, but Emelianenko hasn't made any move towards the Japanese promotions that would seem to be the next best place. Instead, he's slated to appear on another M-1 event in Korea this September against lackluster competition.

5. Goran Reljic - I haven't seen many more tantalizing debuts than Reljic's at UFC 84. He was the new and improved "Cro-Cop": a Croatian striker that had vicious kicks but with submission skills. His fight with Wilson Gouveia turned into one hell of an entertaining slugfest, with both fighters seemingly seconds from being finished before Reljic scored the TKO victory and picked up the "Fight of the Night" award. His second fight was scheduled for UFC 90 against Thales Leites, but a back injury in training forced him out. Little has surfaced about Reljic since then. A May report said he had undergone back surgery and had begun minor training, but nothing has come out since then, even though he is still apparently under contract with the UFC.

6. Roger Huerta - "El Matador" was riding a sixteen fight win streak heading into his August 2008 showdown with Kenny Florian. Coming off a resilient win over Clay Guida, this was Huerta's chance to prove he was a top contender. Unfortunately he was dominated by Florian and was expected to move back down into the sludge of the UFC's lightweight division. Instead, he's been inactive for almost exactly a year. Huerta caught Cung Le disease (who should be on this list now that I think about it) and said he wanted to move into acting, which has culminated in a role in the Tekken movie (oh yes). He was also critical of the policies of the UFC during media tours, which drew the predictable backlash from Dana White and led many to believe Huerta had been effectively blacklisted since he only had one fight left on his contract. However, in true Tito Ortiz style (I guess that doesn't really work now since he's returning), Huerta will at least fulfill his contract when he faces the surging Gray Maynard at Fight Night 19.