Official SportsBettingWorld Middleweight Rankings

Added on Aug 24, 2010 by Bill Jackson in

UFC & MMA

Last Saturday, Strikeforce crowned their new middleweight champion in the wake of Jake Shields leaving the promotion for the more deep and dangerous waters of the UFC. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza claimed the vacant title with a unanimous decision over Tim Kennedy. Shields has now moved back down to welterweight, so he is not ranked as a middleweight anymore.

1. Anderson Silva

Silva proved his championship mettle more than ever in his come-from-behind submission win against Chael Sonnen after losing for 23 minutes in their title fight at UFC 117. However, he didn’t do himself any favors by making excuses for his performance instead of giving the challenger credit for a tremendous fight. Next up: most likely a rematch with Sonnen.

2. Chael Sonnen

Sonnen followed through to his word until there was about two minutes left in his title opportunity against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Oregon native, but because of his performance he will probably get another try at Silva. According to him, however, he will possibly fight someone else in the interim.

3. Yushin Okami

Okami has been steadily beating quality opposition for the last few years before losing a shutout decision to Chael Sonnen last year. Since then, he has put together two impressive wins, most recently a split-decision that should have been unanimous against Mark Munoz. The win put Okami in the title mix, but it is hard to say what his next fight will be. A title eliminator against Vitor Belfort makes sense.

4. Vitor Belfort

Some might have an issue with Belfort being so high on the list because his last fight was a year ago and it was at a catchweight of ten pounds over the middleweight limit. However, we will use some discretion and combine his last first-round knockout over Rich Franklin with his previous first-round knockout over Matt Lindland and recognize that everyone else near his level is coming off a loss. Belfort says his next fight will be in November but no opponent has been named.

5. Nate Marquardt

Marquardt was the clear No. 1 challenger in the UFC until Chael Sonnen upset him by winning every round of their title eliminator. Marquardt is truly championship material though, and he will have a chance to begin climbing back to a title shot next month against Rousimar Palhares. With a win there, Marquardt could move up a spot.

6. Jorge Santiago

Santiago defended his Sengoku middleweight title for the second time last weekend with an epic war against Kazuo Misaki, which he won by TKO in the fifth round. The win is a big boost to Santiago who is trying to put the memory of his upset loss to Mamed Khalidov behind him.

7. Demian Maia

With Vitor Belfort injuring his elbow before a scheduled title shot against Anderson Silva earlier this year, Maia got the opportunity. Sadly, it was one of the worst fights in the promotion’s history and Maia certainly didn’t gain any fans, despite Silva being mostly to blame for the stalemate. Maia will have his chance at redemption later this month at UFC 118 when he takes on Mario Miranda.

8. Dan Henderson

Henderson is one of the greatest fighters of all time, despite losing his recent Strikeforce title bid to Jake Shields. Before that, “Hendo” was on a three-fight win streak against high quality opponents, highlighted by one of the more brutal knockouts you’ll ever see against Michael Bisping. Hendo is likely heading to light heavyweight for his next fight, and when he does, he will leave this list.

9. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

Souza earned a unanimous decision last Saturday over Tim Kennedy to become the new Strikeforce middleweight champion. The title was previously vacated by Jake Shields when he left to sign with the UFC. Souza’s last performance garnered mixed reviews as he showed he doesn’t need to fight on the ground to win, but provided a rather uneventful five-round boxing match with few punches thrown.

10. Alan Belcher

Some of the sadder MMA news in the last few months was the report of Alan Belcher’s torn retina and withdrawal from his upcoming UFC fight with Demian Maia. Belcher is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport and has been on quite a rush as of late. Most recently, he submitted Patrick Cote in the second round after stunning him by picking him up and dropping him flat on his face. Hopefully Alan recovers and returns soon, but realistically he will likely be dropped from the list in the coming months.