Sorting Out The UFC's Suddenly Cramped Middleweight Title Picture

Let's harken back to earlier this year, specifically the early springtime, when Anderson Silva was preparing to defend his UFC middleweight title against Vitor Belfort, seemingly the only legitimate contender left at 185 lbs inside the Octagon. In fact, things were so barren, that when Belfort went down with an injury, Demian Maia was penciled in as a replacement.

My how things have changed. Chael Sonnen did everyone a favor in upsetting Nate Marquardt and preventing a lackadaisical rematch between Marquardt and Silva. Then Sonnen earned a shot at Silva himself and nearly dethroned the world's pound-for-pound king. (Unless you believe GSP holds that title, like me)

In the meantime, Chris Leben has risen from the dead and reeled off a three-fight win streak that includes impressive wins over Aaron Simpson and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Wanderlei Silva announced his presence at middleweight in February in beating Michael Bisping, but has been on the shelf ever since while recovering from broken ribs and knee surgery and will be out until next year.

Yushin Okami and Alan Belcher also want to believe that they have some say in how this middleweight title mess is going to play out. The popular opinion at the moment is to either make Silva-Sonnen II right away or match Silva up with a fresh challenger in Belfort. However, Belfort has been waiting nearly a year to fight again and Silva looks to be out of action until early next year.

Jake Rossen believes that the UFC should pair up Sonnen and Belfort to create a clear-cut number one contender. While it seems practical, the UFC would essentially be sacrificing one big-money fight for the other, as the loser of the bout would descend back into mediocrity. It's not everyday that you have more than one challenge a fan wants to see the champion face, especially since said champion already cleaned out his division a long time ago.

If I was Joe Silva, things would play out like this: Sonnen came way too close to beating Silva to not give him an immediate rematch. The fans would love to see it again and I'm sure both Sonnen and Silva want it to take place as well. Ask Sonnen if he wouldn't mind sitting out 4-6 months while Silva's heals up before a rematch. I guarantee he won't put up much a fight. Belfort needs to fight, so give him Okami. That way, the next challenger for the belt is already established as the winners of Silva-Sonnen and Belfort-Okami can meet next summer. A potential rubber match between Silva and Sonnen would be put on hold anyway. The UFC has never matched the same fighters up three times in a row.

As for the others, Belcher is currently healing from a detached retina that may not allow his career to continue. If it does, he should be ready to return at the same time as Wanderlei Silva. Match them up. Leben is enjoying some much-needed time off. So let's see how Maia vs. Mario Miranda and Marquardt vs. Rouismar Palhares play out before giving him anymore assignments.

P.S. Michael Bisping isn't a contender. Why people insist in attempting to match him up against guys climbing the ladder is beyond me. Let him string together a couple of wins before hopping on his bandwagon once again.

Impressions of UFC 117

UFC 117 was the first major event that I've been able to watch live in quite a while. I'm glad I made the decision to do so. The main card delivered something for every type of fan from a heavyweight slugfest to a tactical ground battle to a come-from-behind victory for the ages. It was nice to see.

- Chael Sonnen backed up his trash talk. Who would have thought he would dominate Anderson Silva over four and a half rounds, let alone a single one at all? Not me. When the fight began, I thought that Sonnen would take the first round similar to how Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter had done to Silva in the past. I had no idea he would continue to do so throughout the rest of the bout. What a heartbreaking loss for Sonnen, but props to Silva for staying focused and aware enough to pull off a last-minute submission. An immediate rematch has to be in order. Sorry, Vitor Belfort.

- Jon Fitch looked great in action while Thiago Alves looked exactly the opposite. Be it the weight cut, ring rust, or another unknown ailment, Alves didn't look himself and allowed Fitch to throw him around the cage like a rag doll for fifteen minutes. Fitch was promised a title shot before the bout, but if Georges St. Pierre is victorious over Josh Koscheck in December, I wouldn't be surprised to see the winner of Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann receive the honors instead. However, you know Dana white is foaming at the mouth to finally pair Fitch and Koscheck together and throw AKA in a frenzy.

- Although I picked Almeida to win, I was ecstatic to see Matt Hughes not only pick up his third straight win, but to choke Almeida, a highly-ranked BJJ black belt, unconscious. I'm very excited to see Hughes back in the welterweight title picture after being left for dead. I guess it's the nostalgia of the whole thing.

- Joe Rogan's comments during Junior Dos Santos' three-round mauling of Roy Nelson were dead-on: the Brazilian needs to mix up his offense. Knees, elbows and kicks would have allowed him to finish Nelson. Throwing nothing but punches obviously did not. Kudos to Nelson, who now has us questioning whether his chin and heart are bigger than his stomach. As for JDS' shot at the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez, I unfortunately don't see him having much of a chance against either.

More to come...