Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva (23-4)
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.

2. Yushin Okami (23-4)
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.

3. Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1)
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.

4. Nate Marquardt (28-8-2)
In a must-win bout against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 95, Marquardt came through with an explosive third-round stoppage. The victory was yet another step closer to a rematch with Anderson Silva, though he may first have to contend with fast-rising BJJ king Demian Maia.

5. Robbie Lawler (16-4, 1 NC)
After initially eyeing a return to the Octagon following the demise of EliteXC, Lawler will now head to Strikeforce. He'll see action on the promotion's May card in Tacoma, Wash.

6. Dan Henderson (24-7)
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."

7. Demian Maia (10-0)
Another fight, another victory and another "Submission of the Night" bonus for Maia, as the BJJ king easily polished off Chael Sonnen in the first round of their Feb. 21 encounter. Now Maia may be but a bout away from a crack at divisional king Anderson Silva.

8. Jorge Santiago (21-7)
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.

9. Thales Leites (14-1)
Luck smiled upon Leites, as the Nova Uniao product is the winner in the Anderson Silva sweepstakes. The gifted grappler will challenge “The Spider” for his middleweight title at UFC 97 on April 18 in Montreal.

10. Vitor Belfort (18-8)
While the MMA world has grown skeptical of the multiple "returns" of Belfort, "The Phenom" has been sensational as a middleweight thus far. He polished off Terry Martin in July before brutally dispatching the well-regarded Matt Lindland in a mere 37 seconds on Jan. 24 to stake his claim in the division.

Other contenders: Yoshihiro Akiyama, Patrick Cote, Dan Miller, Frank Trigg, Chael Sonnen.

*With his Feb. 21 loss to Demian Maia, formerly ninth-ranked Chael Sonnen falls out of the top 10.