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Joe Lauzon is one of the bright young prospects in mixed martial arts.

No less an authority than Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion B.J. Penn predicted that Lauzon would someday become a champion.

But not long after an impressive victory over Jeremy Stephens, Lauzon was confronting the question of whether he would ever be able to fulfill the promise he'd showed in his dramatic knockout win over Jens Pulver at UFC 63.

He significantly injured his right knee in training after the Stephens win that not only required surgery, but also was going to leave him on the sidelines for a year or more. For a fighter who had not only been extremely active, but also in the process of rebounding from a loss to Kenny Florian in a bout on April 2, 2008, it was devastating news.

"You never want to hear that, but my thought process was that I was going to work as hard as I possibly could to get back to where I was as quickly as I could," said Lauzon, who is 18-4 and gained acclaim for finishing every one of his wins.

Lauzon tore both the anterior cruciate ligament and the meniscus in his right knee in a training session not long after his Feb. 7 victory over Stephens in Tampa, Fla. Doctors told him the injury was severe and would require a strenuous 10-to-12 month rehabilitation.

But Lauzon, who has been going to physical therapy for 90 minutes to two hours a session three times a week, believes he is far ahead of the plan. He's already able to jump up onto a 24-inch platform in his rehab sessions.

"It's basically two months out from the surgery and I've made drastic improvements already," Lauzon said. "When it first happened, I couldn't move at all in bed. I couldn't walk before the surgery. I was feeling like an idiot, because I couldn't even move my leg. But it's a drastic, dramatic change right now. I'm leg-pressing 300 pounds. I'm jumping onto the 24-inch board. I'm doing a lot of things earlier than I thought. I'm optimistic."

He said he felt his knee would ultimately be stronger than it was prior to the injury. He always had a bit of looseness in it pre-surgery, but expects the knee to be more solid when he returns to action.

Because he's a professional athlete, doctors told him he'll be at a very high level in just four months after the surgery and that he'll feel like Superman six months out.

"The key there is to not get ahead of myself," Lauzon said.

Even though he'll feel like his old self by September, he'll need to continue to work to strengthen the knee before he returns to competition.

But he's willing to be patient because he wants to be completely healthy when he returns. And he's not worried about losing the momentum he was building - as a fan favorite and in the division as a competitor.

"When you're away from competition as long as I'll be, I guess there will be a little bit of (out of sight, out of mind)," Lauzon said. "But my fan base is pretty awesome. And I know that (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva won't forget me. And I know that (UFC president) Dana White and the Fertittas won't forget me. It sucks that I had this injury and it put me on the side, but instead of looking at it in a negative way, I look at it that I'll have an even better knee when I'm through."

With that, let's get on to your questions and comments in the mailbag. My responses are in italics.

TORRES WOULD HAVE DONE IT

Anderson Silva's lackluster performance against Thales Leites at UFC 97 ended the pound-for-pound debate for me. Clearly, Anderson dominated the fight but as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, his unwillingness to roll with Thales was a huge disappointment. My feeling is that under similar circumstances, Miguel Torres would have welcomed the opportunity to take the fight to the ground. Perhaps Miguel has a better ground game than Anderson, but my point is that Miguel prides himself on beating his opponent at their own game. Your thoughts?

John M.

Chicago

I don't dispute your points, John. I have decided to put Torres as my top pick in the pound-for-pound rankings now. Our results, being tabulated by Dave Doyle, will come out later this week. I'm going to be curious to see how the voting comes out, but it's clear to me that four fighters - Torres, Silva, Georges St. Pierre and Fedor Emelianenko - at least deserve to be in the discussion for No. 1 pound-for-pound.

CHUCK LEAVING UFC?

I read recently that trainer John Hackleman is saying that Chuck Liddell is not done fighting by a long shot. He pointed out that Chuck still has one fight on his UFC contract and that he will look to other organizations if the UFC won't honor his desire to fight. As a rabid MMA fan, I am happy to hear that Chuck still has some "fight" left in him. While I agree with Dana White that he has nothing left to prove, this doesn't mean he can't contribute to the sport. Also, I don't think the UFC can legally stop him from making a living. For example, the current light heavyweight champ in Strikeforce is Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Liddell has humiliated him twice, and I think he could easily do so again. The bottom line is why not let Chuck fight if he wants? Do you think Dana will hold firm and that Chuck will leave the UFC if they won't give him a fight? You're a lot closer and always have a good way of cutting through the rumors and giving us good information.

Adam N.

Durham, N.C.

Thanks, Adam. Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm sure Hackleman doesn't like the idea that Dana is pushing Chuck into retirement. But asked directly at the UFC 97 post-fight news conference, Liddell indicated he is likely to retire. In my view, he's still a quality light heavyweight, but he's no longer competitive with the top six or eight guys. I don't think Liddell really wants to compete against less than the best, so I suspect he's done and it's never going to come to a showdown. And given what he makes - and I can assure you it's significantly more than is reported to the athletic commissions - it's unlikely another organization could afford to sign him.

SPIDER'S KICKS ILLEGAL?

I have a question regarding the kicks Anderson Silva has been using in his last two fights, which target the knee. I've been arguing that such kicks should be made illegal because of the damage they could potentially cause. After seeing their effects on Patrick Cote and given it has taken him a long time to rehab that injury, I don't see why the UFC hasn't already barred them. While I want fighters to have a broad range of tools they can use (makes for an exciting fight), I think an injury caused by such kicks could potentially end a fighter's career. Has there at least been some consideration on this? As a fan of fighters (and not just fighting), I'd like to know your thoughts on this as well.

Adam M.

Chicago

I've been a long-time advocate for fighter safety and will continue to be an outspoken voice on the topic when the issue arises. I'm going to disagree with you on this one, though. First, Cote had already had a bad knee, and I don't think Silva's kicks alone caused his knee to pop in that fight. Secondly, it's not the easiest kick to land and the fighter has defenses against it. Third, it would be extremely difficult to police for the referees, and their job is already difficult as is. I don't want to see anyone get seriously injured, but these kinds of kicks are part of the game and well-rounded fighters need to be able to deal with them.

POUND-FOR-POUND CONSPIRACY

Do you think it's possible that the UFC is throwing easy opponents at Anderson Silva so that they can maintain his ranking as the pound-for-pound top fighter title? It seems to me that a loss for Silva would only help boost Affliction's argument for Fedor Emelianenko being No. 1. The same can also be said for Affliction, of course, but their roster is not as impressive as the UFC's. The 205-pound division is full of fighters that should be able to put up a good fight with Silva. Your thoughts?

Gil

Downey, Calif.

Gil, I don't think that's a consideration. His last two opponents weren't the best, but remember that he was supposed to fight Yushin Okami at UFC 90 before Okami was hurt and pulled out. And look who else he's fought: Rich Franklin twice, Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt, etc. He's fought the best there is in his division. Next, he's facing a former light heavyweight champion. Plus, the UFC doesn't have control of the pound-for-pound rankings and part of the reason to vote for a fighter is for beating top competition. Silva's competition level is not an issue in my mind.

SMALLEST FIGHTER

Let's have a little fun here. Who is the smallest current fighter that you could put in a time machine to go and win UFC 1?

Dax P.

Marietta, Ga.

I'll go with Miguel Torres, though I'm sure he's hardly the only one. But I know he's beaten middleweights and has given UFC interim heavyweight champion Frank Mir fits. So Torres would be my choice.

HOW ABOUT CUNG?

In the last mailbag, someone had asked about Cung Le being signed to the UFC. You said it was unlikely that he would be signing because of him being more focused on his acting career. When Silva-Griffin was signed for UFC 101, Dana White was quoted as saying he was working on signing a middleweight that would "blow your mind." And you might be getting sick of this question, but could this be Le? What other middleweights do you think he could be talking about?

Shaun M.

Terre Haute, Ind.

It's definitely not Le. He does want to work on movies, but don't forget that Cung is under contract to Strikeforce. I'm not sure who Dana was referencing, but it's definitely not Le.

NOT A BIG FIGHT

Silva-Griffin is not a big fight. The UFC does a poor job in retaining a fighter's value after they are beaten (Henderson, Forrest, Sherk, Franklin). Why would a fan get excited about this fight after watching Forrest get KO'd by Rashad and Silva's last two fights? It's difficult to create pay-per-view interest in fighters after they have been defeated several times.

Jack

New York Maybe you're right, Jack, though I highly doubt it. And it seems to me that Chuck Liddell, for one prominent example, sold plenty of pay-per-views after a loss. Not sure where you're coming up with this, because you have zero data to work off of to make your point.

GIVE MMA A CHANCE

I was watching PTI on Monday and heard Michael Wilbon talking about Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton. At the end, he said, "This is boxing and aren't you glad we are not talking about MMA crap?" I was livid that this guy is talking this way. I am a huge MMA fan and also like boxing every once in a while. My co-worker ordered that PPV, and Sunday he was complaining because it only lasted two rounds and felt shafted! I told him if it were MMA, there would have been several fights! So back to Wilbon: How long is it going to take to make these guys know that boxing and MMA are two totally different sports! Come on, Kevin, you cover both boxing and MMA. You should personally call Mr. Wilbon and explain the difference to him. How long do you think it will take to do away with boxing vs. MMA?

Wes G.

Gastonia, N.C.

Sorry, Wes, but it's not my job to tell others in the media how to do theirs. I think Wilbon - and plenty of others in the media, including some of my close friends who cover boxing - are misguided by ignoring MMA. It's ignorance of what MMA is, but that's on them. Boxing and MMA are different sports, but each is great in its own way. Eventually, more and more will realize that, but don't forget that MMA is still a very young sport.

Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports US / Eurosport