In the main event of UFC 134, middleweight champion Anderson Silva completely outclassed Yushin Okami, stopping him with effective ground-and-pound in the second round. After a UFC record 14-consecutive wins and nine-consecutive title defenses, The Spi…
In the main event of UFC 134, middleweight champion Anderson Silva completely outclassed Yushin Okami, stopping him with effective ground-and-pound in the second round.
After a UFC record 14-consecutive wins and nine-consecutive title defenses, The Spider has firmly solidified his place as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) MMA fighters of all time.
Silva has soundly run through the “Who’s who” list of prominent 185-pounders in the sport, including Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson (at the time), Chael Sonnen, Nate Marquardt, Chris Leben and most recently Okami.
The only intriguing rematch at middleweight for Silva at this point is Chael Sonnen.
Since Silva’s dominant UFC run, Sonnen is the only guy to utilize an effective strategy against the highly-skilled Brazilian for four-and-a-half rounds.
Prior to being submitted, Sonnen was comfortably ahead on all three judges’ scorecards.
Sonnen’s lack of respect, and really utter disdain, of Silva shows that he would push the pace and not be afraid to get physical with The Spider if the two were ever to meet again in the Octagon.
Chael’s wrestling pedigree and unparalleled ability to talk trash mean that the fight would be a huge seller, especially due to Sonnen turning his feud with Silva into an all-out war with the MMA community from Brazil.
Unfortunately, this fight is no sure thing, and the alternatives at 185 are not very enticing.
If Brian Stann is able to defeat Sonnen at UFC 136, he will be next in line for a shot at Sonnen.
While the pre-fight build-up would be solid given Stann’s military accolades, the bottom line is that he matches up miserably with Silva.
It is well documented that Stann is tough as nails and packs a powerful punch, but at the end of the day no striker at middleweight stands a chance against Anderson.
This is why a rematch with Vitor Belfort or Chris Leben (albeit extremely unlikely) would be pointless.
Belfort has repeatedly shown that he is immensely talented, but he has never shown the propensity to step up to the plate for the big fights.
And Leben is simply no longer a top-tier middleweight.
A new fight for Silva that is a realistic possibility is Mark Munoz, but despite being a pretty solid wrestler, he is not as talented or as mentally tough as Sonnen.
There is little doubt that The Spider would finish Munoz inside two rounds if they ever met inside the cage.
The only new fight at middleweight for the Black House MMA fighter that fans are legitimately interested in seeing is one against a fighter that has never fought at 185: Georges St. Pierre.
The reigning UFC welterweight champion, who is generally considered the second-best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, seems to be one of the few legitimate threats left for Silva.
His expert game planning and excellent wrestling make him a great matchup for Silva, and his black belt in BJJ doesn’t hurt his cause either.
However, GSP has shown very little interest in bumping up for this fight, despite having very few challenges left at welterweight.
St-Pierre’s main issue seems to be with adding 15 to 20 pounds of muscle to his frame for one middleweight fight, before then dropping back down to 170.
GSP’s insistence to remain a full-time competitor at welterweight may very well keep this fight from ever happening.
To be fair, the French-Canadian still has some quality opponents remaining in the form of Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit and perhaps guys like Rory MacDonald, Diego Sanchez and Rick Story somewhere down the line.
With that in mind, is light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones the only realistic challenge left for Silva, outside of Sonnen?
Silva has already expressed no interest in bumping up to fight his “friend,” but Jones said he would have no issues signing on the dotted line for the super fight.
If Bones defeats Rampage Jackson at UFC 135, few challenges remain at 205 outside of Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans.
A rematch with Mauricio Rua has some interest after Shogun’s dominant victory over Forrest Griffin, but it’s difficult to imagine Rua providing a real challenge for Jones after seeing how their first bout played out.
Very few middleweight matches for Silva are worth watching at this point, so hopefully the UFC has a plan in tact if Sonnen or Stann come up short against Silva.
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