Middleweights
1. Anderson Silva (27-4) Black House
Silva finally managed to look human in a fight. What many already knew was a weakness for the champion was further exposed to those who hadn’t bought into it yet. Silva is prone to be taken down. He was taken down by Dan Henderson and was taken down and mounted by Travis Lutter. Still, Silva being great always seems to find a way to win. Next up is Sonnen early next year.
2. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1) Team Quest
For all of his trash talk and hype, Sonnen somehow was able to completely live up to it. Sonnen succeeded at taking down Silva at will and actually catching him with a few punches standing as well. He battered Silva for four and a half rounds but Silva was able to come through with the victory with a triangle choke halfway through the fifth round. Sonnen’s efforts did however earn him an immediate rematch slated for early next year.
3. Nate Marquardt (29-9-2) Jackson’s MMA
Since losing his title shot to Silva, Marquardt has been derailed twice now on his road back- first losing to Thales Leites after being deducted two points and then losing a decision to Chael Sonnen. His next fight will be against Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 22.
4. Yushin Okami (25-5) Team Cloud
Okami showed his toughness in his fight with Mark Munoz. Okami continually stuffed Munoz’ takedown attempts and controlled the fight for the duration. Okami will get another chance to prove he’s worthy of a title shot when he meets up with Vitor Belfort in November.
5. Dan Henderson (25-8) Team Quest
This is becoming an increasingly tougher decision. Henderson has only two wins in the division since 2008 and they’re against Palhares and Bisping. He was beaten soundly by Jake Shields for the Strikeforce MW title in April and Shields is moving to WW now that he’s in the UFC. I’m keeping Henderson here based on his past but he will drop with further inaction and after the Okami/Belfort fight.
6. Demian Maia (13-2) Wand Fight Team
After Maia’s disappointing title bid in Abu Dhabi, he successfully rebounded against dangerous striker Mario Miranda. Next up is TBA.
7. Jorge Santiago (23-8) EMF
Since his departure from the UFC over three years ago Santiago has been on a tear. He had a nine fight win streak halted at the end of last year at the hands of a Khalidov TKO but was able to avenge that loss with a hard fought decision victory over Khalidov at the Sengoku Raiden Championships 12. His last fight was a potential fight of the year against Kazuo Misaki where he won by TKO corner stoppage in the last round. Outstanding fight.
8. Chris Leben (24-6) Icon Fitness MMA
I’ll admit I haven’t been the biggest Leben fan but the guy just doesn’t quit. The Akiyama fight made that card. Leben was basically a zombie. He kept taking punishment and moving forward and eventually landed a triangle in the third round. Next up is TBA but you’ve got to think it will be a big fight at this point.
9. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (13-2, 1NC) Black House
Jacare is a top prospect at MW. He’s got great submissions and an improving standup game. Since joining Strikeforce he’s notched three wins and the MW title however his wins aren’t over the greatest opposition so that’s why he’s not further up on the list. Next up is TBA.
10. Vitor Belfort (19-8) Xtreme Couture
Vitor deserves to be near the top of the list but just hasn’t been active in the division. That will all change in November when he meets Yushin Okami. Vitor was originally slated for a title shot but an injury postponed that and Sonnen’s four round beatdown of the champion caused it to slide even further when he was given an immediate rematch. Belfort poses a much different threat to Silva than past challengers due to his hand speed and power. Should he get past Okami, a title shot will be next for him.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:35 am
[...] Rankings were compiled from the following sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle’s Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), Figure 4 Online, Fighters.com, and Total MMA. [...]
October 28th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
[...] were compiled from the following sites: WAMMA, Fighters.com, MMA Ratings, Fight Magazine, Total-MMA, Houston Chronicle Brawl Sports, MMA/VT, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMA Playground, FightMatrix, Sherdog, [...]
October 28th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
[...] were compiled from the following sites: WAMMA, Fighters.com, MMA Ratings, Fight Magazine, Total-MMA, Houston Chronicle Brawl Sports, MMA/VT, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMA Playground, FightMatrix, Sherdog, [...]
December 9th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
[...] were compiled from the following sites: MMA Weekly, Sherdog, HDNet/Inside MMA, Total MMA, Fight Magazine, 411 Mania, CagePotato, TAGG Radio, FCFighter, MMA ELO, Five Ounces of Pain, [...]