By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

A new year brings a new landscape for the heavyweight division, and MMATorch Senior Columnist Shawn Ennis has brought back his "Lay of the Land" to breakdown the entire division for MMA fans everywhere.

EXCERPT:

THE CONTENDER

Frank Mir (12-3): Think back to November of 2006. Frank Mir had just lost to Brandon Vera in convincing fashion in just over one minute. I had written Mir off before this fight even happened, after I watched him go 1-1 against Marcio Cruz and Dan Christison and look terrible in both fights. And just two years later, Mir made me look like a fool. He came in and obliterated perhaps the second greatest heavyweight in the history of MMA with his boxing. I laughed off Mir's chances against big Nog along with everyone else, but Mir proved that he meant it this time when he said his cardio was better than ever, and he proved that he does know how to train leading up to a fight. The question remains though (at least for me), can he do it twice? Can he get excited and train just as hard to fight a guy he's already beaten? Will his cardio still be up to par in his next fight? Because to me, this is just like winning a title. Anyone can have one great performance. It's the elite fighters that can string them together...click here for the full article.

Also on display on the main page is another edition of the Writers' Roundtable feature that we began last month. On a fairly regular basis MMATorch Columnist Matt Pelkey provides our columnists and contributing staff with a few questions, and we in turn give our thoughts on those topics. Yesterday we tackled two questions: Who deserves the first shot at Rashad Evans - Quinton "Rampage" Jackson or the winner of the upcoming Machida/Silva fight? And was Big Nog's loss to Frank Mir due to a once in a lifetime performance from Mir, or is it the beginning of the end for Minotauro? For those answers from Alex Williams, Frank Hyden, Matt Pelkey and myself, check out the Writer's Roundtable.

EXCERPT from Matt Pelkey: Where this whole situation gets dicey is with Rampage's legal issues. They're not just gonna go away. At some point he has to be held accountable for his hit and run spree from earlier this year. Rampage has expressed interest in avenging his loss to Forrest next. Perhaps that's for the best. It'll keep 'Page out of the title picture until everything is resolved, and it gets some new blood at the top of the card. Just like in wrestling, its all about building new stars. Machida or Silva? No, not them. They'll just provide a nice notch on Rashad's belt while on his quest to being one of the best fighters in the world, along with one of the biggest stars...continue reading here.

Also out yesterday was an interview with Fedor Emelianenko conducted at FiveOuncesOfPain.com, and we presented highlights of that interview yesterday along with some comments from PWTorch Editor Wade Keller on Fedor's responses. Check that out here.

Check out MMATorch.com daily for news, analysis, and opinion columns on all things MMA.

We suggest these recent related articles...

PUNK INJURY: C.M. Punk's UFC debut delayed (MMATorch)

WM32 NEWS: Ronda Rousey rules out WrestleMania appearance

MOVIE NEWS: C.M. Punk & A.J. Lee to co-star in horror movie