Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
Middleweight
Jan 4, 2008
MIDDLEWEIGHT (185-170)
1. Anderson Silva (20-4)
The top middleweight, and still the king of Sherdog.com's pound-for-pound rankings, Silva will be blessed with the chance to strengthen his stranglehold on the middleweight division, and fortify his status at the sport's top fighter when he faces fellow pound-for-pounder Dan Henderson (Pictures) in March. Oddly enough, the bout will take place in Ohio, where "The Spider" notched the two biggest wins of his career as he destroyed former champion Rich Franklin (Pictures) in front of his hometown crowd.
2. Paulo
Filho (Pictures) (16-0-0)
The good: Filho knocked off a very solid and worthy opponent in his Dec. 12 WEC title defense in Chael Sonnen (Pictures). The bad: He looked positively awful doing it, and the fight's finish came amid considerable controversy. The ugly: The fight has led to many fans and pundits alike questioning whether Filho is nearly as talented as his beefy record says. It's a question that will only get answered in time.
3. Matt Lindland (Pictures) (20-5-0)
Unquestionably one of the toughest and gamest guys in the sport, the real problem for Matt Lindland (Pictures) has been that he hasn't fought much relevant competition at 185 pounds. If "The Law" climbs in with some quality middleweight opposition in 2008, he'll almost certainly improve his stock in the division.
Following another destruction at the hands of Anderson Silva, Franklin's next move is unclear. He is still a quality competitor in a relatively shallow division, but he is left with very few options given the nature of his debasing losses to "The Spider."
5. Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) (25-7-2)
Marquardt found himself overwhelmed by UFC champion Anderson Silva in July. Though many thought Marquardt provided a bad style match for Silva, his chin failed to hold up against the champion's strikes. "Nate the Great" will be in action come Super Bowl weekend against once-beaten Brazilian Thales Leites (Pictures).
6. Robbie Lawler (Pictures) (16-4-0)
Injury again nixed a proposed Dec. 15 bout in ICON Sport with Hawaiian banger Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures). Here's hoping that third time is the charm for getting this fight done and that one of ProElite's only top talents can stay healthy for action in the new year.
7. Yushin Okami (Pictures) (21-4-0)
Following his domination of Jason MacDonald (Pictures) in October, rumors immediately surfaced that Okami was done in the UFC and that Zuffa had no interest in re-signing him. That talk was quickly quashed as Okami and his camp renegotiated a new deal for the Japanese standout that will put him back in the Octagon in early 2008.
8. Frank Trigg (Pictures) (16-6-0)
Not the most poignant victory in the world, but Trigg made easy work of Edwin Dewees (Pictures) on the Dec. 15 HDNet Fights card. What's more important is that Jason "Mayhem" Miller knocked off Tim Kennedy (Pictures), setting up a quality rematch between the two fighters early next year. Their first encounter was the bout that brought Trigg back to prominence, as he literally stomped out MMA's cult hero in December 2006. With the loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) to Trigg's former victim Kazuo Misaki (Pictures), the outspoken "Twinkle Toes" rises from tenth to eighth in the Sherdog.com rankings.
9. Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) (19-8-2)
Talk about a rollercoaster: after his improbable and arguably tainted PRIDE Grand Prix run in 2006, Misaki began 2007 with high hopes, and was instead destroyed by Frank Trigg (Pictures). In a do-or-die situation, Misaki turned in a performance that embodied the brand of gameness he's known for, getting up from a brutal knockdown to put Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) to sleep in vicious fashion. That win allows Misaki to creep back into the tail end of these rankings.
10. Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) (10-2-0, 1 NC)
Akiyama returned after a grueling 11 months on the shelf following his flirtations with Oil of Olay in his bout with Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures), and everything looked to be coming up roses after he destroyed the well-regarded Denis Kang (Pictures) in Seoul in October. However, this New Year's Eve wasn't too kind to Akiyama either, Akiyama was brutally knocked out by Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) in arguably the best bout of NYE. With the loss, Akiyama falls from eight to 10.
1. Anderson Silva (20-4)
The top middleweight, and still the king of Sherdog.com's pound-for-pound rankings, Silva will be blessed with the chance to strengthen his stranglehold on the middleweight division, and fortify his status at the sport's top fighter when he faces fellow pound-for-pounder Dan Henderson (Pictures) in March. Oddly enough, the bout will take place in Ohio, where "The Spider" notched the two biggest wins of his career as he destroyed former champion Rich Franklin (Pictures) in front of his hometown crowd.
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The good: Filho knocked off a very solid and worthy opponent in his Dec. 12 WEC title defense in Chael Sonnen (Pictures). The bad: He looked positively awful doing it, and the fight's finish came amid considerable controversy. The ugly: The fight has led to many fans and pundits alike questioning whether Filho is nearly as talented as his beefy record says. It's a question that will only get answered in time.
3. Matt Lindland (Pictures) (20-5-0)
Unquestionably one of the toughest and gamest guys in the sport, the real problem for Matt Lindland (Pictures) has been that he hasn't fought much relevant competition at 185 pounds. If "The Law" climbs in with some quality middleweight opposition in 2008, he'll almost certainly improve his stock in the division.
4. Rich
Franklin (Pictures) (22-3-0, 1 NC)
Following another destruction at the hands of Anderson Silva, Franklin's next move is unclear. He is still a quality competitor in a relatively shallow division, but he is left with very few options given the nature of his debasing losses to "The Spider."
5. Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) (25-7-2)
Marquardt found himself overwhelmed by UFC champion Anderson Silva in July. Though many thought Marquardt provided a bad style match for Silva, his chin failed to hold up against the champion's strikes. "Nate the Great" will be in action come Super Bowl weekend against once-beaten Brazilian Thales Leites (Pictures).
6. Robbie Lawler (Pictures) (16-4-0)
Injury again nixed a proposed Dec. 15 bout in ICON Sport with Hawaiian banger Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures). Here's hoping that third time is the charm for getting this fight done and that one of ProElite's only top talents can stay healthy for action in the new year.
7. Yushin Okami (Pictures) (21-4-0)
Following his domination of Jason MacDonald (Pictures) in October, rumors immediately surfaced that Okami was done in the UFC and that Zuffa had no interest in re-signing him. That talk was quickly quashed as Okami and his camp renegotiated a new deal for the Japanese standout that will put him back in the Octagon in early 2008.
8. Frank Trigg (Pictures) (16-6-0)
Not the most poignant victory in the world, but Trigg made easy work of Edwin Dewees (Pictures) on the Dec. 15 HDNet Fights card. What's more important is that Jason "Mayhem" Miller knocked off Tim Kennedy (Pictures), setting up a quality rematch between the two fighters early next year. Their first encounter was the bout that brought Trigg back to prominence, as he literally stomped out MMA's cult hero in December 2006. With the loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) to Trigg's former victim Kazuo Misaki (Pictures), the outspoken "Twinkle Toes" rises from tenth to eighth in the Sherdog.com rankings.
9. Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) (19-8-2)
Talk about a rollercoaster: after his improbable and arguably tainted PRIDE Grand Prix run in 2006, Misaki began 2007 with high hopes, and was instead destroyed by Frank Trigg (Pictures). In a do-or-die situation, Misaki turned in a performance that embodied the brand of gameness he's known for, getting up from a brutal knockdown to put Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) to sleep in vicious fashion. That win allows Misaki to creep back into the tail end of these rankings.
10. Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) (10-2-0, 1 NC)
Akiyama returned after a grueling 11 months on the shelf following his flirtations with Oil of Olay in his bout with Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures), and everything looked to be coming up roses after he destroyed the well-regarded Denis Kang (Pictures) in Seoul in October. However, this New Year's Eve wasn't too kind to Akiyama either, Akiyama was brutally knocked out by Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) in arguably the best bout of NYE. With the loss, Akiyama falls from eight to 10.
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