UFC: Picking Up the Pieces of the Middleweight Division

The million dollar question is now "Who do we feed to Anderson Silva next?"  That's the easy part, a majority of fans and "experts" say that Yushin Okami should get his shot next. With the exception of a major intervention of God, I think we all know whats going to happen to Okami.  

The division is an interesting position right now where they have four men in the top ten and they have all been beaten by Silva. With the exception of Okami, I don't think the other three (Franklin, Hendo, and Marquardt) want anything to do with the champ.

The UFC has two choices, they either manufacture a contender from the division or they seek to bring someone into the weight class. Anderson may move up to Light Heavyweight but I'd rather see two or three more fights at his current weight.

If the UFC does plan to build within the division they have limited resources to do so. There are several guys who if they won two fights in a row could get a shot at Silva.

Ricardo Almeida is a ground specialist with a 9-2 record. If he can win a fight or two against mid-level or better opponents he may get the nod. I don't think Almeida would favor well against the champ, but his ground game would give him a fighter's chance.

Patrick Cote may get a shot if he keeps knocking people out. Cote would have to knockout his next two opponents, but anything could happen.

Now that we have looked at the division, what could happen if someone moved into the division to challenge Silva?  This is the scenario I am most intrigued with. I feel there are three fighters who could come into the division and quickly get a shot at the "Spider". 

The Light Heavyweight division is stacked with talent and dangerous strikers. I would to see Wand move back down to 185 pounds. After the Jardine fight, I think he should move down, destroy someone in a warm up fight and then get Silva.

I don't think Shogun Rua has any intention of moving down but I want to see it. Think of the hype of a Rua vs. Silva fight. It would be a brutal war and if it happens, sign me up!

I have also heard some rumblings that Thiago Alves may move to the division. Alves is a deadly striker who is coming off a huge win over Karo Parisyan. He would get a showcase fight against a mid-level guy, then Silva.

These are the guys who I wouldn't mind seeing in the chase, I'm not saying they are going to beat the champ, just give us a good show. 

If the above guys may get a chance, I should mention a list of guys who shouldn't be in the conversation, yet.

Michael Bisping needs at least two more fights at 185 and at least one of those needs to be against a top ten guy. Give him Damien Maia and Marquardt for example. If he can beat those two guys then he deserves to be in the conversation.

Georges St. Pierre has already said that he would think about moving up for a "Super Fight". I don't want to see this happen until he has at least two more title defenses. Jon Fitch is next in line and will get his shot. After that, if Alves is a Welterweight, I would like to see him get a shot at GSP as well.

The Welterweights have a talent rich roster right now and I want to see if GSP dismantles Fitch and other contenders before he moves up.

Whatever happens, I think that there will be several good fights for Silva, whether it comes from inside the division or not.