Bantamweight breakdown – What Vera, Cruz, Aldo, O’Malley and others need in order to get a UFC title shot

The UFC men’s bantamweight division will assume center stage over the coming months, as eight of the top 10 contenders have fights booked, including champion Aljamain Sterling.

The marquee 135-pound action begins this weekend with a five-round main event between former champion Dominick Cruz (24-3) and Marlon “Chito” Vera (21-7-1) in San Diego. One week later, former featherweight champ Jose Aldo (31-7) will face Merab Dvalishvili (14-4) at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.

On Sept. 17, Cory Sandhagen (14-4) and Song Yadong (19-6-1) will headline a UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. That fight likely wouldn’t produce an immediate title challenger, but it features the Nos. 4 and 10 in the UFC bantamweight rankings. And then, the biggest night in the division comes on Oct. 22, when Sterling (21-3) faces TJ Dillashaw (17-4) and Petr Yan (16-3) meets Sean O’Malley (15-1) on the same night at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Bottom line, this division will look completely different by the end of the year. It will have to look completely different because all of the top names are facing each other. And due to the activity, there are many different ways the top of the division could play out.

Here’s a look at what each contender needs to do — and the help needed — to get the next title shot at 135 pounds.

What would it take for Marlon Vera to get a title shot?

An audacious knockout against Dominick Cruz. Maybe.

Lightning in a bottle, in other words. “Chito” Vera enjoyed a breakout performance in his last outing against Rob Font, and…