2007 began as a banner year for the UFC. The promotion was in negotiation with HBO. Randy Couture made headlines in mainstream media across the country when he came out of retirement to defeat the bigger and younger Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight championship. The Ultimate Fighter reality show yielded its first champion when Matt Serra upset Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title.

But then the UFC faced a series of stumbling blocks. The talks with HBO collapsed; Couture announced his resignation and long-time light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell suffered back-to-back losses, the first of which cost him his championship belt.

The next year will bring a host of new challenges to the UFC as it tries to sort out champions and future contenders. It will be no easy task as many of the anticipated contenders have been stopped en route to a title, with no heir apparent for number one contender status. Meanwhile, some titles are currently mired in controversy.

Heavyweight champion: Randy Couture?

Whether Randy Couture is the current or the former UFC heavyweight champion depends on who you ask. Couture says he’s “left the UFC.” However, Dana White recently stated, “We consider Randy Couture the heavyweight champion in the UFC and we’re going to offer him a fight.”

Even if Couture agrees to the bout -- most likely against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -- what happens next in the heavyweight division is anybody’s guess. A win by Couture would narrow the field of possible contenders, since he’s already beaten Gabriel Gonzaga and former champion Tim Sylvia.

Back-to-back losses to Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo ended any chance Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic had of vying for the title. It was the victory over “Cro Cop” that earned Gonzaga his title shot but it’s unclear how soon he might have another chance. Kongo’s status received a lift after his win over “Cro Cop,” but questions remain about his underdeveloped ground skills.

UFC 77 saw Tim Sylvia return in dominant -- if not impressive -- fashion with an uninspiring victory over Brandon Vera. The bout removed Vera from the immediate title picture, but only gave Sylvia a slight lift. The former champion remains better at winning fights than winning over fans, but UFC bosses may overlook his unpopularity and give him a title bout next year.

Andrei Arlovski and Fabricio Werdum are also somewhere in the offing, despite a “boring” fight at UFC 70, from which Arlovski walked away with the decision. Werdum holds a 2003 victory over Gonzaga and the two are rumored to be headed for a rematch in January. The winner of the rematch would certainly move a step closer to the belt. Arlovski however, is believed to be stuck in contract limbo, though White recently said he’s happy to offer the former champion a fight.

Light heavyweight champion: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

The biggest challenge facing the light heavyweight division is that most of the talent is still under development. Keith Jardine and Forrest Griffin have been catapulted into the top ten with wins over Chuck Liddell and Mauricio Rua, respectively. It may take another significant win by Jardine and Griffin before either can expect to go toe-to-toe with the division champion.

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua entered the UFC heralded as an instant contender by White. Rua, on the strength of his record, still has to be considered a contender, despite his UFC 76 submission loss to Forrest Griffin. Nevertheless, the loss means he’ll have to wait his turn.

Rashad Evans, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” season two, will face Michael Bisping, the TUF3 winner, in the main event of this month’s UFC 78: Validation.

“The winner of this fight gets knocked up into the top five light heavyweights in the world,” White said.

The claim is disputable, but perhaps indicative of White’s leanings in the division. After all, having another TUF winner become a UFC champion could be considered a ‘validation’ of the franchise.

Middleweight champion: Anderson Silva

The middleweight title picture offers a real conundrum. Champion Anderson Silva has soundly beaten the best the division has to offer. The names Ricardo Almeida and Thales Leites have reportedly been floated by White, but each is a stretch. Almeida has beaten some top fighters but has been out of competition for more than three years, while Leites, though talented, is still not a realistic contender.

Yushin Okami just finished the sixth fight on his UFC contract and it’s unknown whether he will be resigned by the promotion. Branded as ‘boring,’ his UFC 77 victory over Jason McDonald was buried on the preliminary card. Yet he remains the only top ten middleweight in the UFC that Silva hasn’t beaten. (Silva lost to Okami in 2006 by disqualification due to an illegal kick to the head of a downed opponent.)

Unless, that is, you count Dan Henderson as a middleweight. With only a handful of fights in the weight class, Henderson managed to establish himself as a division standout, claiming the Pride ‘welterweight’ (83-kg/183-lb) belt in 2006. Henderson, however, chose to enter the UFC's 205-lb division and it remains to be seen if he will drop weight for what could be his second unification bout.

Also worth mentioning is recent UFC signee Ryo Chonan. Chonan defeated Silva in 2004 with a flying scissor heel hook in one of the most impressive finishes in MMA history. Chonan will make his UFC debut this month in a 170-lb bout against Karo Parisyan but could move up to a division where his talents are needed more.

Welterweight champion: Matt Serra

A bright spot for the UFC, the only problem the welterweight division has is an embarrassment of riches. As things stand now, Matt Hughes will challenge Matt Serra for the title at December’s UFC 79, with Georges St. Pierre slated to face the winner of that match. Down the road expect to see Karo Parisyan either receive his long-awaited title shot or duke it out with Jon Fitch for top contender status.

Both Diego Sanchez and Josh Koscheck have hurt their championship aspirations with recent losses. Provided that Sanchez does not drop down to lightweight, which he is considering, both men are capable of restoring themselves to title contention. Also look to see Marcus Davis make some noise next year after his breakthrough performance at UFC 75 set tongues wagging across the industry.

With enough credible contenders to carry the division through 2008, the only potential pitfall for the field is injuries. The division is even uniquely invulnerable to upsets. Underestimated champion Serra will only cement his standing each time he manages to ‘shock the world.’

Lightweight champion: Sean Sherk?

A question mark has hung over the UFC’s lightweight division since champion Sherk tested positive for steroids following his UFC 73 bout against Hermes Franca. Sherk was given a one-year suspension and fined $2,500. (Franca also tested positive and currently serving a suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission.)

Postponements and administrative mistakes have delayed a verdict being rendered on Sherk’s appeal, and it is still not known when Sherk will be able to return to competition. With the lightweight belt in limbo, Yahoo! Sports is reporting that BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for an interim title at UFC 80 in January.

Should Sherk’s suspension be overturned on appeal, Sherk would be able to face the winner of Penn/Stevenson for the unified belt. However, if the suspension is upheld, a unification match would be on hold for at least six months.

Much like the light heavyweight division, the 155-lb field is populated with up-and-comers. Clay Guida and Roger Huerta will face each other in December. The match marks a step up in competition for Huerta, but it will take more than a win over Guida to make Huerta a contender. For his part, Guida continues to impress but he keeps winding up on the wrong end of the judges’ decisions.

Tyson Griffin is also making moves at lightweight. With a 10-1 record, the feather in Griffin’s cap is a 2005 TKO of WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber – Faber’s only loss. Griffin’s star will likely continue to rise in 2008.

It will certainly be interesting to watch things play out in the UFC next year. By no means are the hurdles faced by the promotion insurmountable but there are more eyes on UFC than ever before. Don’t count on the UFC to lose too many fans as they work through their growing pains. After all, who doesn’t love to watch a come-from-behind victory?