UFC 142 Results: Ranking the Top 10 Middleweights in the UFC

On Saturday night, there was a fight that was supposed to be contested at middleweight, but it was instead at a catchweight between Vitor Belfort and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.

On Friday, Johnson missed weight, and the fight was instead contested at 197 pounds. However, the size difference was no factor come fight night, as Belfort was able to sink in a rear-naked choke in the first round and get Johnson to submit.

With the win, Belfort cemented himself as one of the best middleweights in the world and showed Rumble that size doesn't matter.

Let's take a look at where Belfort sits in the middleweight rankings after his big win in front of a hometown crowd.

No. 10: Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares was also featured on the card on Saturday night, and he earned a first-round submission victory over Mike Massenzio.

Palhares is 6-1 in his last seven fights, and the lone loss was a mental lapse against Nate Marquardt when he stopped defending himself to complain to the referee.

With the win on Saturday, Palhares showed he is ready for a step up in competition.

No. 9: Chris Leben

Chris Leben was last seen at UFC 138, where he lost to Mark Munoz via TKO between the second and third rounds after telling his corner that he couldn't see.

Then, to put the icing on the cake, Leben tested positive for oxycodone and oxymorphone, and was suspended from the UFC for a year.

Leben has notable victories over Wanderlei Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Alessio Sakara, Jorge Santiago, Jorge Rivera, Patrick Cote and Mike Swick.

No. 8: Demian Maia

Demian Maia may be a former title challenger, but he hasn't been totally impressive lately.

Maia lost to Mark Muñoz earlier in the year, then won a unanimous decision over Jorge Santiago. He has now gone his last seven fights without a submission victory and without a fight night bonus.

Hopefully in his next fight he'll be able to pull out something and get back to his submitting ways.

Maia has notable victories over Jorge Santiago, Kendall Grove, Dan Miller, Chael Sonnen, Nate Quarry, Jason MacDonald and Ed Herman.

No. 7: Michael Bisping

Coming in at No. 7 is "The Count," Michael Bisping.

In Bisping's last fight, he earned a third-round TKO victory over Jason "Mayhem" Miller after a coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter 14.

Bisping's next fight will be against Demian Maia, with a possible title fight on the horizon after that.

Bisping has notable victories over Jorge Rivera, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Chris Leben and Matt Hamill.

No. 6: Brian Stann

At UFC 136, Chael Sonnen showed that Brian Stann isn't ready for the best of the best, as Sonnen submitted him in the second round and was never in any danger from Stann.

Stann is now 3-1 at middleweight, with wins over Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.

Next up for Stann is a fight with Alessio Sakara.

Stann has notable victories over Steve Cantwell, Mike Massenzio, Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.

No. 5: Mark Munoz

Mark Muñoz has quietly worked himself into the title picture and could get a title shot with one more win.

At UFC 138, Muñoz was able to stop Chris Leben at the end of the second round, as Leben could no longer see.

In his UFC/WEC career, Muñoz is 9-2, with his only losses being a KO loss to Matt Hamill at light heavyweight and a split decision loss to Yushin Okami.

Up next for Munoz is a fight with Chael Sonnen.

Muñoz has notable victories over Chris Leben, Demian Maia, C.B. Dollaway, Kendall Grove and Nick Catone.

No. 4: Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and a one-time contender for the middleweight title.

Belfort is remembered by many for being front-kicked in the face at UFC 126, but since then, he has had a resounding win over Yoshihiro Akiyama and now a submission victory over Anthony Johnson.

Saturday marked Belfort's first submission victory inside the Octagon since 1997, and you can be sure he was happy to do it at home.

Up next for Belfort is a coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, and then a rematch with the opposing coach, Wanderlei Silva.

Belfort has notable victories over Anthony Johnson, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Rich Franklin, Matt Lindland, Randy Couture, Gilbert Yvel and Wanderlei Silva.

No. 3: Yushin Okami

Yushin Okami was last seen in action at UFC 134, where he got TKO'd by Anderson Silva in the second round of their title fight.

Prior to that loss, Okami was on a three-fight winning streak over Lucio Linhares, Mark Muñoz and Nate Marquardt.

Okami is an elite middleweight, and the only middleweights he's lost to in the UFC are Silva, Chael Sonnen and Rich Franklin.

Okami makes his return to the Octagon at UFC 144, where he will face Tim Boetsch.

Okami has notable victories over Nate Marquardt, Mark Muñoz, Evan Tanner, Mike Swick and Alan Belcher.

No. 2: Chael Sonnen

This should be no surprise whatsoever.

Sonnen pushed the champion to the brink and almost won a decision over the most dominant fighter in MMA history.

Sonnen being at No. 2 is basically a given, and everybody out there likely agrees with me.

Sonnen returns to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 2, with the No. 1 contender spot on the line, as he will face off against Mark Munoz.

Sonnen holds notable victories over Brian Stann, Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, Paulo Filho, Trevor Prangley and Jason "Mayhem" Miller.

No. 1: Anderson Silva

This should come as even less of a surprise than Sonnen at No. 2.

Anderson Silva is the middleweight champion and the most dominant fighter in MMA history.

His next fight will likely be against Chael Sonnen in the biggest fight in UFC history.

Silva has notable victories over Yushin Okami, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin (twice), Nate Marquardt, Chris Leben, Jorge Rivera and Carlos Newton.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @TimMcTiernan.