Author: Michael David Smith

UFC President Dana White said last week that the Anderson Silva–Chael Sonnen rematch will take place in a Rio soccer stadium big enough to break the promotion’s all-time attendance record, and the UFC is already hyping the fight as the biggest in history.

I wouldn’t go quite that far, but I do wonder if it’s the last challenge at middleweight for the greatest champion in UFC history. Silva has so dominated the middleweight division that Sonnen is just about the only opponent who has even made Silva break a sweat inside the Octagon.

So as I rank the best middleweights in MMA, I’ll look at whether any of them could potentially beat Silva down the road, or whether the rematch with Sonnen is the last chance we’ll have to see someone who can really threaten the best fighter the UFC has ever seen.

Top 10 Middleweights in MMA

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did middleweights are in parentheses.)

1. Anderson Silva (1): The best fighter in the world turns 37 in April and has talked about retiring. If he beats Sonnen in the rematch would he consider doing what so few fighters ever do and retire on top?

2. Chael Sonnen (3): Sonnen wasn’t at his best in defeating Michael Bisping in January, but he’s now beaten two Top 10 opponents since returning from his suspension and has earned another shot at Silva.

3. Vitor Belfort (2): Belfort hits as hard as anyone at 185 pounds, and I think he’ll crush Wanderlei Silva. But I’m not all that interested in seeing the rematch with Anderson Silva that Belfort wants. Silva knocked Belfort out in spectacular fashion last time, and I think he’d do it again.

4. Mark Munoz (5): Munoz is an option as a future opponent for Silva: He has the great wrestling and is currently riding a four-fight winning streak. But realistically, it’s hard to see Munoz as much of a challenge to Silva. If you get knocked cold by a Matt Hamill head kick, what’s an Anderson Silva head kick going to do to you?

5. Luke Rockhold (NR): The Strikeforce middleweight champion has a good chance of reigning over the division as long as Strikeforce lasts. It would be better to see him take on some of the best in the UFC, although I think the likes of Silva, Sonnen and Belfort would beat him handily.

6. Michael Bisping (10): Bisping put up a good fight in his loss to Sonnen and will try to rebound against Tim Boetsch at UFC 148. Bisping has always seemed to be just on the periphery of title contention without ever getting there.

7. Hector Lombard (NR): The Bellator middleweight champion has even fewer good opponents available to him than Rockhold has in Strikeforce. I’d love to see Lombard, who’s an incredible 24-0-1 in his last 25 fights, step into the Octagon, although I think he’d get messed up by Silva.

8. Brian Stann (7): After taking a tough loss from Sonnen, Stann will be back against Alessio Sakara in April. Stann is a fighter the UFC would love to promote as a title contender, but it’s not realistic to think he could ever be on Silva’s level.

9. Chris Weidman (NR): After beating by far the best opponent of his career in Demian Maia, Weidman is a perfect 8-0. At age 27 he may become a middleweight title contender some day, but that day will likely be after Anderson Silva has hung up the gloves.

10. Tim Boetsch (NR): I loved the heart Boetsch showed in his comeback win over Yushin Okami. He’s now 3-0 since dropping down to middleweight.

Dominick Cruz made Justin Lawrence the first pick when the coaches selected their teams on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and when Lawrence stepped into the Octagon with Cristiano Marcello on Friday night, he made Cruz’s pick look smart.

Lawrence out-struck Marcello in the stand-up exchanges in the first round, then started landing with more power in the second round and ultimately connected a left hand to Marcello’s chin that knocked Marcello flat on his back, ending the fight by second-round knockout.

“It felt amazing,” Lawrence said afterward. “We worked that all week during the training camp — my left hook, my hands, my movement.”

It was an impressive performance by Lawrence that has to make him, at the moment at least, the favorite to win this season.

Marcello is one of the most experienced fighters on the show, a 34-year-old Pride veteran and Brazilian jiu jitsu instructor who has coached some of the best fighters in the world at the famed Chute Box Academy. But he was never able to take the fight to the ground against Lawrence, and his striking was not impressive.

As for the “reality” portion of the UFC’s reality show, this week’s episode wasn’t as compelling as last week’s, as the fighters resorted to silly pranks like defacing the photos of coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber that hang in the gym. A couple of contrived confrontations between Cruz and Faber felt more like they were going through the motions of promoting their own upcoming fight than exhibiting genuine bad blood.

The fight itself, however, was solid: Lawrence looked good, and he looks like he might just be the best fighter on this season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Lloyd Woodard, Rick Hawn, Brent Weedman and Thiago Michel won their quarterfinal fights and advanced in the Bellator Season 6 lightweight tournament on Friday night at Bellator 62.

Woodard beat Patricky Freire in a highly entertaining main event, surviving a hard-fought and action-packed first round and forcing Freire to tap to a kimura in the second. Freire attempted to survive until the final moment, and he appeared to have a broken arm or dislocated elbow for his trouble. It was a very impressive performance from Woodard, who improved his record to 12-1, with the only loss coming against Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler.

“One down, two to go to get my rematch,” Woodard said afterward. “Chandler, you know what’s up: I’m ready to go.”

Hawn landed a hard right hand to the ear that knocked Ricardo Tirloni down in the first round, then pounced on him and landed nine unanswered punches before the referee stepped in and stopped it. Hawn had previously had a good run in Bellator at welterweight, but at lightweight his power is going to be tough to match.

In an entertaining ground battle with a surprising ending, Weedman forced J.J. Ambrose to tap out to a Von Flue choke. Ambrose seemed caught by surprise, but Weedman said it was one of his specialties: “In my gym guys know that because I catch people with it a lot,” Weedman said.

In the first fight of the MTV2 televised card, Michel beat Rene Nazare by split decision. It was the Brazilian Michel’s first fight in the United States and an upset win.

And in a non-title fight, Rad Martinez, who became well-known when ESPN aired a feature about the way he cares for his disabled father, beat Douglas Frey by first-round TKO.

Bellator’s Season 6 lightweight tournament begins on Friday night with four quarterfinal fights which will serve as a first step toward identifying a top contender for champion Michael Chandler. We’ll predict the winners of the Bellator 62 card (which will not include Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos because Santos failed to make the 265-pound heavyweight limit) right here.

What: Bellator 62

When: Friday, the MTV2 televised card begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Where: Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas

Predictions on the four tournament fights below.

Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Lloyd Woodard

Freire is the biggest favorite in any of the quarterfinal fights and has to be considered the favorite to win the whole tournament. Woodard is a solid fighter with an 11-1 record, and his only loss is to Chandler, the Bellator champion. But he’s not on Freire’s level as a striker and is likely to get finished.

Pick: Freire

Rick Hawn vs. Ricardo Tirloni

Hawn is a former judo Olympian who didn’t take up MMA professionally until he was 32 years old, but he’s become a very impressive fighter in a short time. Hawn’s only loss came by split decision to Jay Hieron in last year’s Bellator welterweight tournament final, and now he’s moving down to lightweight where he should have a strength advantage over almost everyone he faces. Terloni is no joke: He’s 14-1 and has only lost to UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson. But I think Hawn can control him and win a decision.

Pick: Hawn

Thiago Michel vs. Rene Nazare

Nazare is an outstanding Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner who’s a threat to submit anyone. Michel is purely a striker; he has a 9-2 record with nine wins by knockout or TKO and two losses by submission. In this grappler vs. striker matchup, I’m going with the grappler.

Pick: Nazare

J.J. Ambrose vs. Brent Weedman

Weedman was in both of last year’s two Bellator welterweight and is on a two-fight losing streak with losses in both of them. But at lightweight he’ll have a decisive power advantage over Ambrose and should be able to knock him out with punches.

Pick: Weedman

The UFC is going to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the first time in its history on July 21, and a press conference to formally announce the event will take place on Wednesday. We’ll carry the press conference live here at MMAFighting.com.

The event has not yet been confirmed by the UFC, but it is expected to be known as UFC 149 and to take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome during a very busy time in Calgary, less than a week after the conclusion of the 100th annual Calgary Stampede.

The press conference begins at 2 p.m. Eastern and the video is below.

UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson will be the headliner when the Octagon moves to Sweden for the first time on April 14, and Gustafsson says it’s going to be huge.

In an interview on The MMA Hour, Gustafsson said the UFC is growing rapidly in popularity in his homeland, and that when he fights Thiago Silva in the main event of the upcoming UFC on FUEL TV card.

“It’s just getting bigger and bigger,” Gustafsson said. “After this show MMA is just going to explode. So it’s great.”

Gustafsson had an opponent change when Antonio Rogerio Nogueira dropped out with an injury, and he said he’d rather fight Silva because he believes Silva is a striker who will guarantee a good show. And Gustafsson didn’t hesitate to predict that he’ll knock Silva out quickly.

“I will strike with him,” Gustaffson said. “This will be an early stoppage.”

Gustaffson, who was born and raised about an hour away from the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, where the fight will take place, says he’s expecting a large contingent of friends and family to be there within the sold-out crowd of Swedish fans who will be cheering him on against Silva. That crowd shows how MMA is growing in Sweden, although Gustafsson also noted one area where Sweden has a ways to go: There’s not an elite MMA gym at home where he can train. That’s why Gustaffson moved to the United States to train at Alliance MMA, which he said his coaches and training partners completely understood.

If leaving Sweden to train was what it took for Gustafsson to come back to Sweden as a UFC headliner, that was a good move for Gustafsson. And for the Swedish fans who are part of that upcoming MMA explosion.