Is Anderson Silva Really that Great? A Plea to Joe Silva

Anderson Siva is the number one fighter in the world and there seems to be little argument to this fact. As you watch his fights he often puts you in awe of his smooth fluid movement in striking and jui jitsu.I mean his last loss was on a fluke when Chona landed a flying heel hook. However as I scanned the latest rankings I noticed something odd.

1. Anderson Silva (21-4-0)
Although a middleweight title defense against Yushin Okami (Pictures) still seems likely for early fall, Silva will begin a new chapter in his pound-for-pound dominance when he takes the step up to 205 pounds to meet James Irvin (Pictures)on the July 19 UFC "Silva vs. Irvin" card. More of "The Spider" is certainly a good thing.

2. Paulo Filho (Pictures) (16-0-0)
After struggling with depression, drug dependency and rehab, the Brazilian fireplug will be back to rematch Chael Sonnen (Pictures)on Sept. 10, with his WEC middleweight title on the line. Filho took a comeback victory over Sonnen last December, escaping with the victory after a controversial armbar stoppage.

3. Rich Franklin (Pictures) (23-3-0, 1 NC)
Franklin put his second brutal loss to Anderson Silva behind him, overcoming some early adversity to put a beatdown on another former Silva challenger, Travis Lutter (Pictures)at UFC 83 in April. With that second-round stoppage in the books, it's unclear what Franklin's next move at middleweight will be. But in the wide-open division, there is still a multitude of interesting fights for "Ace."

4. Robbie Lawler (Pictures) (16-4-0, 1 NC)
On the biggest stage of his career, primetime network television, Lawler appeared on his way to victory in his May 31 fight of the year candidate against Scott Smith, before an errant finger to the eye ended Smith's night and disappointingly rendered the championship bout a no contest. However, Smith and Lawler will settle their business on EliteXC's second event for CBS on July 26.

5. Yushin Okami (Pictures) (22-4-0)
If Okami needed a dominant and decisive victory to really cement his place in the middleweight division, he's got it. Japan's best plus-155 product crashed former UFC champ Evan Tanner (Pictures)'s homecoming party with a nasty second-round knockout in March. Given the controversial history between the two, a rematch with Anderson Silvawould seem to be the most sensible fight, though Okami will be hard-pressed to score a second win over the champ.

6. Frank Trigg (Pictures) (16-6-0)
After a bit of drama with Fighting and Entertainment Group and Dream, "Twinkle Toes" will head back to Japan, but he'll be stepping into the ring for World Victory Road and Sengoku. Trigg will square off with a presently undetermined opponent at Sengoku's next card on Aug. 24.

7. Thales Leites (Pictures) (13-1-0)
It certainly wasn't the prettiest win you'll ever see, but the Nova Uniao product showed his toughness when he withstood some serious trials in his bout with Nathan Marquardt (Pictures)at UFC 85 on June 7, and with the aid of a couple point deductions, took the split decision win.

8. Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) (26-8-2)
Amidst controversy, Marquardt dropped a split decision to Thales Leites (Pictures)after two point deductions sabotaged his chance at victory. The result figures to be a considerable setback to Marquardt in his quest to get another crack at the UFC middleweight championship.

9. Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) (10-1-0, 2 NC)
After injury kept him out of the ongoing Dream middleweight tournament, Akiyama has confirmed that he'll be back in action for July 21's Dream offering in Osaka against a yet-to-be-scheduled opponent. More importantly, with Dream's 185-pound tournament bracket really producing excitement, some great matches may be on the horizon for one of MMA's premiere villains.

10. Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) (20-8-2, 1 NC)
The ever-tough Misaki turned in another usual gritty performance against solid Minnesota product Logan Clark (Pictures)on June 8. Although Misaki suffered some damage to his left ankle that put him on crutches after the bout, it shouldn't require surgery, which is good since Misaki may finally come stateside to fight for Strikeforce this September.

(Rankings thanks to Sherdog.com)

Silva hasn't beaten Filho, Lawler, Trigg, Leites, Akiyama, or Misaki. Not to mention Cung Le who was mysteriouly left out of these rakings. This leaves a shadow of doubt for me. I had always thought of Anderson as an unstoppable force in this weight class. Now I see his fallability.

It would definitely pay to see him fight Trigg, Filho, or Lawler. Comment on what you think might happen in some of these matchups.