After UFC 101, Who Is Next for Anderson Silva?

Without a shadow of a doubt, Anderson Silva will go down as one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in Mixed Martial Arts. Many people assumed that Silva would leave the Wachovia Center with a blemish on his perfect UFC record. Those people were obviously wrong.

At UFC 101, Silva knocked out former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin three minutes and 23 seconds in the very first round. Not only did he knock Griffin out, Silva knocked Griffin out while retreating and with a jab!

Forrest Griffin is as tough as they come. If you were to knock out a fighter with the type of caliber like Forrest Griffin, you are either extremely lucky or you are that damn good! After winning an unprecedented 10th consecutive victory in the octagon, Silva does not have luck, but skill and talent on his side.

Like Forrest said in the pre-show, "...the guy beats very, very tough fighters and he makes it look so easy.." Griffin could have never been more truthful. Silva redeemed himself from back to back sub-par performances in his last two fights.

Granted, Silva's previous fight against fellow Brazilian, Thales Leites, was considered unimpressive and boring buy many viewers. 

However, the Leites fight still showed just how smart a fighter Silva is. Silva wanted to entertain the fans and give them a show at Leites' expense. Silva did not want to mix it up on the ground with a Jiu Jitsu master.

Instead, Silva would rather knock his block off. Unfortunately, Leites thought otherwise and decided to lay on the ground most of the fight. Silva easily won via unanimous decision.

The other fight that received a lot of heat from many people was the fight against Middleweight Contender, Patrick Cote. What happened in that fight was a "freak" accident. Nobody expected Cote to blow out his knee in that fight, causing Silva to win by referee stoppage 39 seconds in the third round. Nobody expected that one bit.

Now the quest for another challenge will start, once again, to give the UFC Middleweight Champion a run for his money. Here are some possible fighters that do carry the necessary tools to put a blemish on the perfect UFC record of Silva.

Let's start with the Welterweight Division.

Dan Henderson

The former PRIDE Champion has earned his spot back into contendership for the Middleweight crown. After a spectacular knockout of British sensation and TUF 3 winner, Michael Bisping, at UFC 100, Henderson showed the world that he still has that hunger inside of him.

Quite frankly, that hunger never really left the former Olympian. That hunger just needed to be fueled.

Maybe it was the hype that was built up between Henderson and Bisping that made "Hendo" train like a demon possessed. Maybe that is what he needs if he were to face Anderson Silva one more time. Maybe Hendo has to be pissed off at his opponent in order for him to elevate his game to the next level.

Everybody knows the knockout power behind the hands of the California native. Everybody knows that if Henderson wants to take you down, he will take you down. Silva knows that, considering that Henderson is the sole person to actually win a round against Silva back in UFC 82.

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