My gruff old high school basketball coach was about as mean as they come, and we knew it was wise not to ask him too many questions. One day, however, the boldest among us piped up and asked why he still had sideburns. This was the late 80s. Bushy hair was in; sideburns, not so much. Our coach pointed a knurled finger at him and in a voice that sounded like it came from a ninety year old lifelong smoker said, "Had them for fifteen years, everything, and I mean everything, works in cycles, won't be long before they come back...now give me a hundred fingertip push ups for asking a stupid question." A couple years later, a TV show with a few bodacious "high school" students, in their mid-twenties, and even older guys with sweeping sideburns, premiered on Fox, Beverly Hills 90210, and Coach was right, sideburns were back. As coach said, everything has cycles, and it seems MMA is no different. There has been a lot of talk of the "changing of the guard", the stars that built the UFC are on their way out, and fresh ones are on their way in. So the question is who are these stars, the next generation of household names? The answer remains to be seen, but here are a few that might have what it takes, and to add structure we've put them into nice categories:

First in the Momma said knock you out category

Cain Velasquez
A 6'2" former heavyweight wrestler, who won a Junior College Championship at Iowa Central, then transferred to Arizona State and compiled an impressive 50-10 record, Cain no doubt, has a solid foundation on the ground.

Not long after the '04-'05 wrestling season, he made his way a little further west to American Kickboxing Academy, where it would seem he's quickly figured out how to strike efficiently. In 2006, Velasquez wasted little time in scoring (T)KO's over two opponents, then sat out 2007, and got the call from the UFC for their April 19, 2008 show in Canada.

At UFC 83 Velazquez hooked up with 9-2 Brad Morris and needed only 2:10 to score his third TKO. Now the former ASU wrestler will be put to the test once again, this time against 10-1 former Purdue wrestler Jake O'Brien on July 19th. A win by Cain will no doubt put him in the hunt in the UFC's heavyweight division.

Shane Carwin
Oddly enough, the second man in the Momma said knock you out category, is also a former collegiate wrestler, who has decided it's just as fun to punch his opponents to sleep as it is to submit them.

Shane Carwin is a smart guy. Aside from being an All American linebacker and winning the NCAA Division II heavyweight wrestling championship in 1999 at Western State in Colorado, he's collected two degrees, one from Western State in Environmental Technology, and the other from Colorado School of Mines in Mechanical Engineering. Now it seems the full time engineer has also found a job in the UFC.

Through eight bouts, Carwin had done the incredible by stopping all of his opponents in an average of only 89.8 seconds. At UFC 84 though, his UFC debut, Carwin was matched up with Christian Wellisch, who was 8-3 overall and 2-1 in the UFC, a much tougher opponent who trains at American Kickboxing Academy. This didn't seem to bother Carwin, he KO'd Wellisch in convincing fashion in only 0:44!

No doubt Carwin has that "Wow factor". It will be interesting to see what happens when, or if, somebody takes him into the latter stages of a fight. In any event, the 33 year old seems ready to become a UFC star.

Goran Reljic
The Croat Goran Reljic, fighting out of Zagreb, has been making a name for himself in Europe for over four years, where he compiled an unblemished 7-0 mark. It may seem odd the light heavyweight is going into the Momma said knock you out category, as he is a BJJ guy who's submitted five of his first seven opponents, but after his performance in his UFC debut at UFC 84 Ill Will against Wilson Gouveia, he slipped into the category.

Reljic and Gouveia got after it in a great back and forth affair. Reljic blasted away with numerous kicks and punches, almost all coming from his left side, but it was Wilson who looked to finish in round two. Reljic survived though, and then caught Gouveia with a big left and at the 3:15 mark, finished the fight via TKO.

With the victory Reljic added his name to the list in the UFC's stacked light heavyweight division. He might have a chance to make waves as he has proven his Jiu Jitsu prowess, and after the performance in his UFC debut, he's demonstrated he certainly has the ability to strike. To top it off, Reljic is only 26 years old. He has a lot to time to get a lot better, and with his background in place, it's expected that he'll do just that.

Luis Cane
Another light heavyweight, Luis Cane most definitely belongs in Momma said knock you out. The Brazilian absolutely walked through seven of his first eight opponents, with one no contest, and made his debut at UFC 79.

Cane matched up with James Irvin and seemed in the process of walking through him too, when he was DQ'd for an illegal knee. The fight and Cane's thoughts on Irvin and the injury, "...I fought against a coward in a no heart fight," have not exactly endeared him to a lot of fans, and interestingly, this might be a good thing for his chances at stardom.

At UFC 85 Cane demonstrated his exceptional striking ability by picking up where he left off in destroying the tough veteran Jason Lambert in only 2:07. Thanks to both Cane's ability to strike, he is now 8-1 with seven (T)KO's, and his controversial comments after the Irvin fight, the 27 year old might be a big knock out away from garnering serious consideration in the UFC's light heavyweight division. Of course this could make Luis or Luiz Cane, a big name no matter how you spell it!

Dan Hardy
Finally, Dan Hardy rounds out the category. He has more (T)KO's than the rest, because he's had a lot more fights! The Brit with the multi-colored Mohawk will make his UFC welterweight debut with an impressive 19-6 record and ten (T)KO's. Most of Hardy's fights have come in the UK and he has currently won eight of nine with the only loss coming via DQ against Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

Hardy splits his training between Nottingham's Team Rough House and Los Angeles' Legends Gym with Eddie Bravo. He's been a striker all his life, starting out in Tae Kwon Do as a kid, but recently he's working hard on his Jiu Jitsu.

When Dan debuts he will look to follow fellow Brit Michael Bisping into the spotlight; however he's taken a much different path. A couple wins in the UFC's loaded welterweight division will put him on his own path to stardom.

First in the The Sick Jits category

These guys may be up and comers, but they've quickly displayed their proficiency on the ground.

Rousimar Palhares
Brazilian middleweight, who trains with Brazilian Top Team, Rousimar Palhares put together a solid 7-1 record with six submissions and three straight leglocks victories leading up to his UFC debut.

That debut came against veteran Ivan Salaverry at UFC 84 Ill Will and Palhares pulled off an incredibly fast transition to an armbar to finish Ivan at 2:36 of round one. The transition was so fast, the cameraman missed it the first time around! For anybody, especially those who've not seen Palhares before, the submission was outstanding. However, incredible submissions have become the norm rather than the exception for the 28 year old Palhares.

One of the aforementioned leglocks came against BJJ black belt Fabio Negao. One moment Palhares was working on a takedown. Then in one fluid movement Negao was tapping. Palhares' Jiu Jitsu is scary good and now he will be given the opportunity to demonstrate it against Dan Henderson at UFC 88.

Henderson presents an unbelievably tough fight for the relative newcomer Palhares, but if he is able to win, and submit Dan in spectacular fashion, he will absolutely be in the hunt in the UFC's middleweight division.

Demian Maia
Considered by many as one of the top Jiu Jitsu practitioners in the world (and he's got a laundry list of victims to prove it including "Jacare" and Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga), Brazilian middleweight Demian Maia (pictured) put together a 5-0 MMA record, including three victories on October 6, 2007 at Super Challenge 1.

Maia fought Ryan Jensen at UFC 77, in his debut with the promotion. He only needed 2:40 to submit the 11-2 Jensen. Next up was TUF 3 star Ed Herman at UFC 83. Many thought Herman would be too much for Maia, but in fact it was the other way around. The Brazilian locked in a triangle and submitted Herman at 2:27 of round two.

With a perfect 7-0 record and two wins in the UFC, Maia is ready to get that breakthrough fight. The one that will put him squarely in contention in the UFC's middleweight division, and give him an opportunity to display his sick Jits to the world!

Dustin Hazelett
Team Jorge Gurgel member Dustin Hazelett is barely old enough to legally buy beer, and yet he's quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the UFC's welterweight division.

Overall, Hazelett is 11-4, and 4-2 in the UFC, but at the age of 22 the sky is the limit for the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner. Recently, at TUF Season 7 Finale, Hazelett hooked up with the formidable Josh Burkman and pulled off one of the best submissions of the year.

With time running out in the second round, Dustin transitioned from a Whizzer and jumped into an amazing armbar. The victory earned Hazelett a chunk of change as he was awarded submission of the night and fight of the night, but more importantly it helped the young Cincinnati, Ohio native gain a lot of fans. Exactly what he needs to become one of the UFC's new stars.

Now for our final potential household name. This guy isn't picky regarding how he wins, but he seems to always put on exciting fights...

Tyson Griffin
Lightweight Energizer bunny Tyson Griffin trains at Xtreme Couture and has already positioned himself to make the leap into the next cycle of UFC stars. Griffin came into the UFC with an impressive 7-0 record including wins over Duane Ludwig and Urijah Faber.

While in the big show he has continued to impress. After a debut victory at UFC 63 over David Lee, Griffin suffered his only setback, a decision loss in an incredible fight against Frank Edgar. It was a fight that would definitely be hard to top in excitement factor, but in Griffin's very next bout he did just that.

At UFC 72 he hooked up with Clay Guida and the two put on a mixed martial arts clinic. In the end Griffin won a very close, and maybe somewhat controversial decision, but that shouldn't take away from the unbelievable fight, one that referee John McCarthy calls one of his favorites of all time.

After the Guida victory, Griffin has decisioned two more tough opponents, Thiago Tavares and Gleison Tibau to land at an impressive 11-1. It would seem the lightweight has firmly entrenched himself in the thick of the lightweight division, and on July 5th he will get to prove himself once again, against the talented 16-5 Marcus Aurelio, who's coming off a ridiculous 16 second armbar of Ryan Roberts.

No doubt, if the 24 year old Tyson wins this one, and in exciting fashion, he can stake his claim to stardom in the UFC.

Two more men who deserve mention will be fighting each other in something of a play off, or play in, when considering who will have the inside track to becoming a next generation UFC star.

Welterweights Anthony Johnson and Kevin Burns are both coming off impressive victories. Johnson improved to 5-1 when he absolutely decimated Tommy Speer, and Kevin Burns shocked Jiu Jitsu black belt Roan Carneiro with a triangle choke on June 7th in London to move to 6-1.

Now the two will square off on the UFC's impromptu July 19 card and the winner might just be on their way to a big future in the promotion's welterweight division.

There you have it, eleven men who have demonstrated that they just might have what it takes to be the "sideburns" of the next generation of the UFC. How many of these guys will become superstars? Are there others out there ready to join this cycle? How will they go about making their names?

Who knows those answers, but everything works in cycles, and it is going to be fun to see how this cycle unfolds...now, as my old basketball coach would say, "Give me a hundred fingertip push ups for asking those not so stupid questions!"