The State Of The UFC Middleweight Division: Post-UFC 77
In a preview article I wrote ahead of UFC 77 I forecasted that Silva v Franklin II would be nothing like the original meeting of these Middleweights way back at UFC 64. Well, I was half-right. It took Anderson Silva twice as long to dismantle his opponent as it did in the first fight, picking up the victory at 1:07 of the second round – a victory fashioned in much the same way as the first fight, with heavy reliance on his knees and clinch game. As the Cincinnati native crumpled to the ground in front of his hometown fans, not only did Rich Franklin lose the fight, he lost the chance to ever reclaim the Middleweight Championship as long as the strap is around Anderson Silva’s waist.
In the interest of healthy competition, it would have certainly livened things up a lot if Franklin was able to dethrone the current champion and set up the rubber match for 6 months from now. That would, at least, have been a six-month stay of execution for what is a very weak 185lb division. It’s obvious to see that this division is in serious need of a shake up. You’ve got a seemingly unbeatable champion who occupies a different plateau to that of the next best guy, Franklin, who has in turn already beaten the likes of Yushin Okami, Jason MacDonald and Evan Tanner.
The only fight out there, of the guys currently on the UFC roster, which might be of any interest to Anderson Silva would be Okami. First off, Okami holds a win over Silva from a couple of years back, a disqualification as a result of an illegal kick from Silva. Perhaps Silva could go on a Chuck Liddell-like quest, trying to avenge all the defeats from earlier in his career. Recent Zuffa signing Ryo Chonan fits into this category too.
An Okami v Silva rematch would be an interesting fight. Yushin Okami is a very difficult fighter to face, one who rarely engages his opponent unless it’s on his own terms. Okami could certainly be the first fighter in the UFC to take Silva beyond the second round. While it appears that he’s not the most entertaining fighter to watch, his record is very impressive, having only been finished once in his 26 fight career.
Another possible opponent for Silva would be the Dane Martin Kampmann, a very strong muay thai practitioner and solid in most aspects of the game. He is currently rehabbing a bad knee injury suffered in the lead up to a fight against Rich Franklin last June. He’s been solid in the UFC so far, holding wins over Thales Leites and Drew McFedries. It was interesting to note, however, that McFedries was dominating the stand-up aspect of their fight for large periods until Kampmann locked in a tight arm triangle for a submission victory. That would need to drastically improve before a potential meeting with the champ, one of the slickest strikers in all of MMA.
There are two fighters, though, both currently under contract to Zuffa who would represent a major threat to Anderson Silva. PRIDE’s Welterweight (183lb) Dan Henderson is one, but he seems content to stay in the Light Heavyweight division for now. A unification bout for the PRIDE and UFC Middleweight titles would be a marquee match up and I’m sure that this is the fight that Dana White and Joe Silva want next for Anderson. Another option would be to promote WEC Middleweight champ Paulo Filho to the main UFC roster. His solid jiu jitsu game would certainly give Silva something to worry about but his stand up definitely lacks the cutting edge of the champ and this fight could certainly go much the same way as Silva’s successful title defence against Nate Marquardt.
If not any of the names I’ve already mentioned, then who else is there? A lot of people were championing the name of Terry Martin, saying that his prodigious power would be too much for Silva. That, of course, was up until Chris Leben, a fighter Silva beat in 49 seconds, knocked him out. Perhaps Matt Lindland’s Olympic standard wrestling would neutralize Silva’s strengths, but probably not and he’d be left with the realization that, along with the losses to Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton Jackson, he’d have been defeated by three of the top pound for pound fighters in the world, in three different division in the space of a little over a year.
What about Denis Kang? Well Dana White and Zuffa had the opportunity to sign Kang to a contract after the acquisition of PRIDE but don’t seem to be enamoured by his obvious talents.
Where does all this leave Anderson Silva? He’s sitting pretty at the top of a very weak division, more talented in almost every aspect of the game than his nearest competitors. The division needs to be turned on its head, its needs some new blood or we’re going to be seeing Anderson Silva at the summit of the 185lb mountain for a long, long time. And hey, that’s okay with this writer to be perfectly honest.
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nobody can cope with silva he is a beast!!!
What about Dan Henderson? Wasn’t he going to drop down to the 185 class?
Didn’t you read? Its says he seems content to stay in the LH division. Though if Henderson did fight Silva, I’d put my money on “Hollywood”. He’s too smart to stand with Silva and a world-class wrestler.
Fighters to beat anderson silva:
Evan Tanner
Rich Franklin
franklin has been beaten twice, but him and tanner could dominate on the ground
My banner looks sweet on your site
Good competition. Looking forward to the next one. Shoot me an email.
fihlo, bring him up from the WEC. REALLY that is th only option the ufc has. Henderson probably won’t go back to 185 probably due to the cut.
UFCGirls – It was a pleasure, I have to add you back to the links section too.
Two guys that were left out of the article that I think could definitely make a good fight with Silva are Thales Leites and Matt Hughes. Hughes has mentioned in the past that he would be interested in moving out and with his superior wrestling skills, he would definitely be a threat to Silva. This is granted that Hughes sticks to his bread and butter rather than trying to stand and trade. Thales Leities has great takedowns and great submissions. Silva was taken down and put into a bad position by Lutter. This really makes me think that Leites has a better chance than most people think.
Moving up* not moving out, you should make a way to edit your post on here.
I got an idea.
Hughes should move up to 185, to make a run at the title after he beats Serra.
Hear me out, Hughes beats Serra in December, and leaves the 170 lb division for good with the title in hand.
But instead of defending it, he puts it up for grabs when he anounces that he is moving up to “take on Anderson”
This would lead to an instant 170 lb title fight between GSP and Fitch.
Hughes helps beef up the 185 lb class with instant credibility, and he doesn’t have to have another devastating loss to GSP again.
He can leave the 170 lb class a champ, and go after the 185 lb belt.
Its a win win for everyone, expecially Hughes.
Hughs has better wrestling skills but, Andersons Jujitsu is pretty good, he submitted lutter I see no reason why he wouldn’t hughs. I really don’t think it would be challenge for him. I think Matts wrestling skills are abit overated (just a side note)
The only other fighter besides Franklin in the UFC Middleweight Division that poses a threat to Silva is Yusin Okami. I think Okami will lay low and lose a couple of rounds and eventually bait Silva to come close to him and then Okami would take Silva down and ground and pound him to win the title. Also, as good as Okami is, he can also get KTFO’ed by Silva in the first round. We will definately see a Silva/Franklin III. We won’t see it for a little while, but we will definately see it; I guess that is Silva’s next big fight; a third fight with Franklin.
What you are proposing makes sense Accomando, but I don’t think the UFC will let Hughes move up to Middleweight before he fights GSP for a third time.
I just don’t think Hughes would risk moving to a heavier weight class where everybody matches his size and strength for his last few fights. I think he will beat Serra. I really don’t know if he can take GSP in the rubber match though. It would be nice to see him go out with a win though.
2 me i think okami would be da next guy up 4 silva
does anybody know who is fighting 2day on the episode of tuf 2night?
Hughes would be way to slow and out of place on his feet. Do you remember when BJ Penn beat his ass in the first 2 rounds of their last fight? Penn is nothing compared to Silva or Franklin for that matter on their feet. Hughes would end up going out on a very bad note if he made the moveo MW. Stay in WW and win as many as you can before you retire.
and yes, eltz, Okami should be the next to fight Silva, but the division needs some help, bad.
It’s a matter of skills. Lutter almost beat Silva on an empty tank and no motivation. Better? No, but just a bad match up for him. Lutter can take him down and keep him down. If Lutter prepared with Extreme Coulture, he would beat Silva. However, I believe Franklin would beat Lutter.
I think Fitch should move up, I bet he could give Silva a run for his money. Doesnt look like he is going to get a shot a ww belt anytime soon.
NOBODY IN THAT DEVISION WILL TAKE THAT BELT,HIS STRIKING IS TIMED AND PINPIONED,HISCLINCH IS BEYOND,HE’S JUST THAT GOOD,THIS GUY IS THE MAN,MABY A HANDFUL COULD BEAT HIM BUT NOT IN THAT WEIGHT CLASS,AND I DISAGREE LUTTER COULDNT BEAT HIM,FITCH COULD GIVE HIM A RUN,ANDIF OKAMI STANDS UP WITH HIM FOR 2 ROUNDS LET ALONE 2 MINUTES HE’LL BE PUT TO SLEEP,GET USED O HIM CUZ HE’S THE CHAMP FOR A LONG TIME COMIN’.
AND DONT FORGET HE IS A BLACK BELT IN BJJ WHICH HE RECEIVED FROM THE NOGUEIRA’S,HE HAS A GROUND GAME,IF LUTTER AND MARQUARDT COULDNT BEAT HIM ON THE GROUND THEN WHO WILL,HE JUST HAPPENS TO STROKE DUDES
DENIS KANG! DENIS KANG! DENIS KANG!
B.J Penn has said he wants to eventually fight at MW. This will probably only happen if he wins the LW title quickly, and wins the WW title again. If that guy is motivated, and he would have to be to move up that much, he could give anyone fits. Silva probably cathches him coming in, but the fight would be years away, and he could be bored by than.
Okami’s contract is up, that’s a reason why White never mentioned him as an oppenant to Silva. What about the recently signed Almeida?
This Middleweight is a tough thing to analyze, but I’ll take a stab at it and give you my thoughts.
I think Accomando has an idea that has merit. Matt Hughes has always said he would move up to take the belt. This is the time that it needs to happen. If he beats Serra, I believe he will try to take on Anderson Silva. His wrestling is bar none some of the best in the UFC, and Silva has yet to be tested regularly during a fight on the ground. Somebody needs to fully test Silva’s BJJ game on the ground.
Frank Trigg’s comments on his radio show seem to be correct. Greco-Roman wrestlers are the types of brawlers that can take Silva out. Guys like Trigg, Hughes, Henderson are fighters who have those styles. They may not necessarily beat Silva, but they’d give him a tough run at it because of their power in the clinch. Franklin didn’t possess that.
How come nobody ever thinks of Dean Lister?
1. He has never been knocked out or Submitted
2. All of his losses have been decision (At this point it would cool just to see someone go the distance with Silva)
3. He still has a contract with the UFC and they are wasting him with fights with Radev? That guy got smoked last time out.
Yeah, Lister would be an interesting choice against Silva. I haven’t been that impressed by him recently but there’s no denying his talents. I think Filho would be a more interesting option though.
I dont think Kang can get him,Matt Hughes is on his last leg i mean if he was rocked by GSP just imagine what The Spider would do to him i’d hate to see Hughes get dismantled like Franklin.think about it Franklin was to 185 what Hughes was to 170 they above the rest and now he made Franklin look like any old slouch.Yeah Penn is a bad dude and i never count him out but against this dude at 185 just doesnt sound right.Okami just won a decision against McDonald on an undercard fight at UFC77 who Franklin made quit mind you.There might be some guys to give him fits but it doesnt matter when they’re waking up staring at the doctors and Dana is strapping that belt back around Silva’s waist where i think it stays for a long time comin.As for lister,yeah he’s good but i dont think he’s in a hurry to get knocked out for the first time,i agree Filho is very good too but would he leave his belt at WEC for just a shot and possibly become another highlight reel for the Spider.cont get me wrong ther are some good fighters out there but what we’ve seen from The Spider is just above and beyond and unheard of and as Rogan said the Greco clinch game has no answer for the Thai clinch game that Silva utilizes,clinch with Silva and you’ll get dropped,my opinion to beat him-Bring a baseball bat it the Octagon.
SILVA IS THE MAN
the only real challange is dan henderson
GSP vs. Silva, do it now. Dynamic strikers with underrated ground games.
I know he said he wasn’t interested, but it would be interesting if he moved up to clean out the LightHeavyweights. I think his ability would take out most if not all the competition, but he may be worried about the size difference. I just don’t see any real competition for him at Middleweight. I think Okami should be given a shot, and then maybe Kampmann is the only person I think that has a real chance at beating him. Then he should really look at moving up. There are several interesting matches if he does, but the one I would really like to see would be Alexander Houston.
All of the fighters currently under contract with UFC (not other Zuffa brands) and fighting at Middleweight are just fodder to feed Silva’s dominance. For Silva’s legend to be solidified, however, he needs to face top-level talent not currently found in the UFC. It is on the UFC’s shoulders to bring in some competition like Kang, Lindland, Filho (probably the easiest since already under contract w/ UFC parent company), Lawler or even Frank Shamrock, or to talk Henderson into dropping down a weight class or bringing back Evan Tanner (if he can put his life together and properly train). While I don’t necessarily see any of those guys beating Silva (who seems to be entering ihs prime), they would at least provide a test until current UFC up-and-comers in the Middlewight class (and perhaps some future TUF grads) get the seasoning necessary to take on Silva. Unfortunately, I can’t see UFC (and White) swallowing its “pride” and signinig any of those guys so over teh next year we will probably be left with the Okamis and McDonalds (who both lost to Franklin mind you) of the UFC stepping into the octagon and getting beat down by Silva.
It would be in a little while from now, but GSP vs. Silva would be awesome! Maybe in 2009 or 2010, after GSP (hopefully) defeats Hughes/Serra and (hopefully) defends against Fitch and another or two.
GSP has said he would like to move up in weight class once he has been able to dominate welterweight. It would be a huge challenge for him because Silva seems so far ahead of everyone else right now at 185. It would be an exciting fight to say the least.
I totally agree with all of you guys,you made some real good points especially jason Iliked that.It really is’nt a deep weight class like 170 205 or especially 155(look out for Huerta,Griffen,and i really like Joe Lauzon alot too)so unless they bring others in or have him drop/add weight he might not face real tough competition,but let me ask you-is he really just that good?I would love to see Houston Alexander fight him that dude is a bull,I was screaming to see Wanderlei Silva fight Houston actually two similar styles-wrecking balls.Now what about Cro-Cop moving to 205 or even 185 now that would bust it wide open,imagine the fireworks there,and yes GSP would match up with him well but I’m not too sure if he can beat Fitch that guy is WAY underrated,i cant wait for that fight either.I would love to see Linland back in the UFC also and he is the one person to take The Spider 5 rounds-maybe-but like I said look how just destroys top game like Ace.
Neil you are exactly right bro Silva is the man,he makes me want to move to Brazil and see whats in the water down there.
Silva will most likely reak the UFC record for all time title defenses.
I’m sorry I meant to say break.
I think some people are getting way to confident in Silva’s talents I completely agree that he is a world class athlete with loads of talent and skill. He’s great but he has only defended his title, what 4 times? Marquradt, Franklin, Lutter (which didn’t count), and…..or 3. Anyway, don’t jump to the conclusion that he will break every record because he looked unbeatable so far. That’s a comment that takes some time to be able to say.
But it could happen, just like Matt Serra could set the record by defending his title 26 times or whatever…….well, probably not.
I noticed that nobody has talked about a 205 dropping to 185 other than Henderson. I remember hearing Bisping wanted to drop down and a few others as well…but imagine this Jardine vs. Silva.
That’s a great fight idea Jeff: Jardine vs. Silva. Jardine is a big guy, but I assume he weighs maybe 220 pounds, so it doesn’t seem too farfetched for him to drop down to 185. More likely Bisping and Evans will drop to Middleweight and make for some interesting fights.
I honestly don’t think Jardine can make 185. Fighters who can-
Chuck Lidell,Bisbing,Rashad Evans,*Tito Ortiz*
personally I dont either…and if he did his syle doesnt match up well with Silva. I was just throwing an idea out there to stur up am “outside the box” idea. Also I think people need to remember that styles make the fights…it doesnt matter that Franklin beat MacDonald and Ukami, that doesnt mean that either one will be dominated by Sliva, but if they try to stand and bang with him they will lose. I am not a Anderson Silva fan but I do have to admit he has the best striking in the lower 3 weight classes.
After Bisbing realizes he is to small for LHW he might be able to stand in there with him. Unlike Franklin he does not come in forward, but prefers to circle. He might be able to set a different tone of fight against Silva. Other than that I can only think of Matt Lindland.
hendo and lindland would take out silva.
henderson may be the best option to give silva a good fight although i still think silva would beat him.dont think its gonna happen with henderson staying at lhw.lindland may have a shot although i think he would be knocked out unless he took it to the ground quickly.