UFC Betting Sites – The Best MMA Online Bookies
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The UFC Middleweight division is one of the most overlooked weight classes in mixed martial arts today. And, while the weight class consists of the world’s greatest fighter in Anderson Silva and 45 other 185 lb. fighters, it has still been critic…
The UFC Middleweight division is one of the most overlooked weight classes in mixed martial arts today. And, while the weight class consists of the world’s greatest fighter in Anderson Silva and 45 other 185 lb. fighters, it has still been criticized for it’s lack of competition. While the Middleweight division may not have some […]
Chael Sonnen and the 5 Hardest-Hitting Middleweights in the UFC Today
On Saturday night, the semifinals of the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix took place. Daniel Cormier was able to upset Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva with a first-round knockout, and Josh Barnett was able to submit Sergei Kharitonov, also …
On Saturday night, the semifinals of the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix took place. Daniel Cormier was able to upset Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva with a first-round knockout, and Josh Barnett was able to submit Sergei Kharitonov, also in the first round. With that, the finals were set up, and Daniel Cormier will take on Josh […]
Strikeforce Grand Prix Results: Ranking The Top 10 Middleweights in MMA
Cung Le is now officially fighting in the UFC. Many have waited and now speculate on the potential matchups at 185 lbs. How would he do against Chael Sonnen? How would his striking match with Vitor Belfort? Could he be the one to dethrone Anderson Silv…
Cung Le is now officially fighting in the UFC. Many have waited and now speculate on the potential matchups at 185 lbs. How would he do against Chael Sonnen? How would his striking match with Vitor Belfort? Could he be the one to dethrone Anderson Silva? These are brief looks at how Cung Le stacks […]
Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza may not yet be a household name to casual fans, but that may just be a matter of time. In addition to his 14-2 record in the sport of MMA, the Brazilian is recognized as one of the be…
Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza may not yet be a household name to casual fans, but that may just be a matter of time. In addition to his 14-2 record in the sport of MMA, the Brazilian is recognized as one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the world. His five world championships […]
Strikeforce: How Does Jacare Souza Match Up Against the Top 10 UFC Middleweights
Courtesy of :The MMA Truth Related Posts:UFC on Versus 3 Results: Mark Munoz and the Top 10 Middleweights in the UFCBrock Lesnar: What He Must Do to Come Back Better Than EverUFC Rankings: Anderson Silva and the Top 10 Middleweights in the UFCStrikefor…
Courtesy of :The MMA Truth Related Posts:UFC on Versus 3 Results: Mark Munoz and the Top 10 Middleweights in the UFCBrock Lesnar: What He Must Do to Come Back Better Than EverUFC Rankings: Anderson Silva and the Top 10 Middleweights in the UFCStrikeforce Fedor vs. Henderson Results: The Top 15 Middleweights in MMAUFC Rankings : […]
UFC Middleweights Attacked by Rare Disease – Just a Bad Case of the Spidernytis
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, MiddleweightsThere’s plenty of talent in the middleweight division in the UFC. Vitor Belfort is pound-for-pound as hard a puncher as anyone in mixed martial arts. Chael Sonnen’s MMA wrestling is first-rate. Demi…
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Middleweights
There’s plenty of talent in the middleweight division in the UFC. Vitor Belfort is pound-for-pound as hard a puncher as anyone in mixed martial arts. Chael Sonnen‘s MMA wrestling is first-rate. Demian Maia‘s Brazilian jiu jitsu is world class.
And yet when we survey the middleweight division, it almost feels like a pointless exercise. Anderson Silva has spent the last five years proving himself to be so far ahead of the rest of the 185-pound class that the rest of the division doesn’t seem all that interesting. At UFC 134, Silva spent one round measuring Yushin Okami, then made Okami look like a rank amateur in the second round.
So as we look at the top 10 middleweights in MMA, we’re looking at a list of talented fighters, all of whom have either already lost to Silva or would surely lose to Silva. He’s head and shoulders above the rest.
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): As great an offensive striker as Silva is, his stand-up defense may be even more impressive. Silva’s head movement is so good that he can stand right in front of his opponents with his chin up and his hands below his waist and know they’re not going to be able to hit him. He does things that no one else in combat sports can do.
2. Vitor Belfort (3): The combination of Belfort’s very impressive knockout of Yoshihiro Akiyama and Chael Sonnen’s continued inactivity gets Belfort a bump in the rankings. But while Belfort is saying he wants another shot at Silva, it’s hard to see why the UFC would do that. Belfort will need more than one win to get a rematch after Silva’s brutal knockout of Belfort in February.
3. Chael Sonnen (2): The one big fight left for Silva at middleweight is a rematch with Sonnen, who’s the only person who has really even challenged Silva in the UFC. If Sonnen beats Brian Stann at UFC 136, Silva-Sonnen 2 is the fight to make next.
4. Yushin Okami (4): Prior to meeting Silva, Okami had only been finished once in 31 pro fights, and that was almost eight years ago. Okami is a big, strong guy with a good chin, but Silva toyed with him. That’s how big the gap is between Silva and the rest of the Top 10 middleweights.
5. Mark Munoz (5): Munoz is the highest-ranked middleweight who hasn’t yet had a chance to face Silva, and his wrestling pedigree would make him an interesting matchup with the champion. We’re probably not going to see Munoz vs. Silva outside the Black House gym, however. Up next for Munoz is Chris Leben in the main event at UFC 138.
6. Demian Maia (6): Maia will try to rebound from his loss to Munoz with a fight against Jorge Santiago at UFC 136. Maia is only 3-3 in his last six fights and hasn’t submitted anyone since Chael Sonnen at UFC 95, and if he loses to Santiago, he’ll drop out of the Top 10.
7. Brian Stann (7): As a charismatic, articulate fighter who won a Silver Star for service in Iraq, Stann is a guy the UFC should want to put front and center on Fox: He’s just who the UFC brass should want representing them in front of a mainstream audience. If Stann beats Sonnen at UFC 136, would the UFC consider putting Stann in a middleweight title fight on Fox? Or would that fight be too lucrative on pay-per-view for the UFC to give it away for free?
8. Chris Leben (8): If Leben can beat Munoz in November, he might be able to make the case that he deserves a shot at the middleweight belt in 2012. But considering how easily Silva beat Leben the first time those two fought, a rematch probably wouldn’t be pretty for the Crippler.
9. Ronaldo Souza (9): Jacare is the Strikeforce middleweight champion, and one of the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners in the world, but until he moves to the UFC and fights better competition it’s hard to move him any higher in the rankings. His next fight, with Luke Rockhold on September 10, shouldn’t be much of a challenge.
10. Michael Bisping (10): Bisping will coach The Ultimate Fighter and then fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller in December. A win there would get him close to title contention, although he’d likely need one more victory in 2012 before he’d get a crack at Silva.