So it’s been like a month or so since I’ve written anything on the site and for all my trusty fans I say I’m sorry. It’s been busy at the Casa de Moreno and school has been handing me my ass as of late.
With that said I bring to you a thought process of mine. It’s been said as recently as last month that the middleweight division is weak. To be honest I’ve thought that myself, but here lately certain fighters have been changing that thought process.
At UFC 95 Nate Marquardt and Damien Maia had some convincing wins to let the MMA world know that they were in line for a title shot. However they are not the only ones making this claim. So with that in mind here is a short list that makes me feel very good about the up and coming year that is the middleweight division.
Yushin Okami—Most people feel that Okami doesn’t deserve a shot at the title, but I for one disagree. If we look at his record it shows a UFC record of 7-1 in his last eight fights. The only fighter in the middleweight division to have as many wins in that same time frame is Anderson Silva.
In any other division he would have had a shot by the fifth win let alone after seven with his only loss being to then No. 2 middleweight fighter in the world Rich Franklin. I know his win to Anderson was by DQ and I get that many think he is boring, and I’m not going to argue that point.
Boring or not he deserves his shot whether or not we think we know what is going to happen to him if and when he fights Anderson.
Nate Marquardt—Since his loss to Anderson Silva he has fought the top fighters in the middleweight division. He submitted Jeremy Horn, KO’ed Martin Kampmann in the first round forcing Kampmann to drop a weight class, and demolished Wilson Gouveia. His lone loss was to Thales Leites which he had two points taken from him and one judge still thought he won.
In his recent win over Gouveia, Marquardt stated that he was a different fighter then the first time he faced Anderson and he is right. His stand-up is much improved and he is one of the best ground and pound fighters at 185. Honestly I think he can give Anderson a good run in a rematch and has to be considered the next in line.
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