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Anderson "The Spider" Silva
After considerable clamor over which division and which opponent Silva would tackle in his next bout, it is near official that “The Spider” will main event April’s UFC 97 in Montreal against fellow Brazilian
Thales Leites. The bout will mark Silva’s fifth UFC middleweight title defense.
The 185-pound elephant in the room for the UFC, Okami racked up his seventh win in the Octagon with an easy -- albeit awful -- unanimous decision victory over
Dean Lister at UFC 92. The question now is whether the UFC will match Okami with a worthwhile opponent who will come to fight and whether Okami can be stirring enough to earn himself a title shot against Silva.
It may not have been an MMA bout, but the 23-year-old Mousasi completely destroyed respected K-1 veteran Musashi at K-1 “Premium 2008 Dynamite.” The fight brilliantly displayed why the Dutch-bred, Armenian-born Mousasi is one of the sport's most enthralling young fighters.
Slated to defend his EliteXC middleweight title against
Joey Villasenor, Lawler was left in no man’s land after EliteXC ceased operations. Now attention turns to where the “Ruthless” middleweight will land in a post-EliteXC world.
After an outstanding demolition of
Martin Kampmann at UFC 88 in September, Marquardt will look to continue his march to another middleweight title bid when he takes on
Wilson Gouveia at UFC 95 in London on Feb. 21.
It was not without a bit of a brouhaha, but Henderson earned a split decision over
Rich Franklin at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland, on Jan. 17. Now the former two-division Pride champ has earned a lengthy promotional vehicle coaching against
Michael Bisping on the ninth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as well as the season's larger payoff: a marquee bout against "The Count."
Flunking out of the UFC is now a distant memory for Santiago. The American Top Team product has ripped off nine straight victories, all stoppages, including two tournament victories. With his Jan. 4 come-from-behind choke-out of
Kazuo Misaki, he captured Sengoku’s middleweight title.
Luck smiled upon Leites, as the Nova Uniao product appears to be the winner in the Silva sweepstakes. Barring any changes of heart for Zuffa, the gifted grappler will challenge “The Spider” for his middleweight title at UFC 97 on April 18 in Montreal.
After emerging victorious in a truly bizarre November rematch with
Paulo Filho, Sonnen will face a much more serious challenge in his next bout. The former U.S. Olympic wrestling team alternate will lock horns with undefeated prospect
Demian Maia at UFC 95 on Feb. 21 in London.
The 31-year-old Brazilian has been nothing short of brilliant in racking up a 4-0 mark in the UFC, tapping all four of his adversaries. However, to emerge as a bona fide contender, the gi and no-gi genius will have to pass his next test against uncrowned WEC middleweight champion
Chael Sonnen at UFC 95 in London on Feb. 21.
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