Any MMA fan surfing the net these days would be hard pressed not to stumble upon some story or discussion, regarding whether or not a UFC champ is close to ‘cleaning out the division’ (somehow when we browse the world wide web we keep stumbling upon pics of gorgeous women…). Of course with Georges St. Pierre’s recent walk through over Dan Hardy, talks continue as to who can still challenge GSP at 170; if BJ Penn takes out Frankie Edgar this weekend, similar rhetoric will really get going, and clearly for some time now, people have talked about whether or not Anderson Silva is close to mopping up as middleweight champ.
Of course there always seems to be someone around the corner, the Jon Fitchs or Gray Maynards for example, that certainly deserve a crack at the crown. In other words, there may be the potential for ‘I pray that happens’ fights if champions move up in weight (Silva vs. Machida), but is a division ever completely ‘cleaned out?’ In the case of Silva, he says he’s not even close (thanks to MMA Weekly for the quote).
“I’m actually far from cleaning out my division. I feel that there may be guys that are even better than me coming into the UFC,” said Silva “And proof that there’s tough guys in my division is Demian Maia right now. We’re going to have a great fight. It’s going to be a big fight, a big challenge for me.”
Maia, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen; we’re not saying these guys will beat Silva, but these are all interesting fights no? To bet on Silva vs. Maia head here.