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UFC Middleweight Rankings

A review and ranking of the UFC's 185-pound middleweight division - February 2009

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Ah, the 185 pound middleweight division. A division becoming ever so stacked, but currently dominated by one overwhelming figure - Anderson “Spider” Silva.

Ever since October 14, 2006 at UFC 64, Anderson Silva has basically run a monopoly of the who's who in his division. With wins over Henderson, Leben, and Marquardt, he's what you would call "a monster."

Of course when you’re the best, everyone wants to take you out.

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Thales Leites will get his chance at UFC 97 on April 19, 2009. Thales Leites is obviously the number one contender, but in my opinion, Thales couldn't train enough. Anderson will put an end to his dreams of becoming the next champ in a few months.

With Dan Henderson's split-decision victory over Rich Franklin, Henderson will be featured on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, pairing him up with Michael Bisping for his next fight. Henderson sent a message by barely beating Franklin, even though it would've made no sense for Franklin to win the fight because of the possible match-ups that could have occurred. Bisping on the other hand, has really yet to be challenged by a serious opponent; a problem that I'm sure Henderson could help fix.

Seeing as Anderson Silva has beat just about everyone worth talking about, one of the only sensible people to mention would be Yushin Okami - one of four men who have ever beaten Silva. But since Okami lost to Rich Franklin, he's technically worse than Henderson, letting Henderson have the edge. Then again, Yushin Okami lost to Demian Maia a while ago. Demian Maia is a Brazilian ju-jitsu mastermind who is still undefeated in his career with wins against Nate Quarry, Jason MacDonald, and Yushin Okami. So you can’t forget about him.

By Ryan DeClerck
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer

Published February 2009