UFC 142 Results: Ranking Anderson Silva's Biggest Threats

UFC 142 saw some exciting middleweight action.

Vitor Belfort secured his first submission win since 1997 with a rear-naked choke over Anthony Johnson.

Rousimar Palhares also secured a first-round submission against his opponent, Mike Massenzio, via leg lock.

Both middleweights ascended the rankings with their wins, and each will eventually be making a case to fight Anderson Silva.

Here is a ranking of Anderson Silva's most dangerous title threats.

 

5. Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares continued his winning streak by securing yet another leg lock victory over a clearly outmatched opponent.

Palhares is a specialist.  If he grabs a hold of a fighter's leg, the chances are good that that fighter will end up either tapping or having his leg torn off.

It may be crazy to say that Palhares is one of the better-suited fighters to beat Silva at 185, but I can't help but remember that Silva's last legitimate loss was to a flying heel hook.

Palhares doesn't stand a great chance of beating Silva, but his ace in the hole alone gives him a better chance than most. 

4. Vitor Belfort

If Anderson Silva didn't exist, Vitor Belfort may have gone down as the best striker in middleweight history.

Still, Belfort is the clear second, and is probably the only fighter at middleweight who can stand with Silva for any extended period of time.

If Belfort can connect with Silva, he can follow up with one of his trademark flurries and be the first man to hand Silva a knockout loss.

3. Mark Munoz

Mark Munoz is one of the best wrestlers at 185 pounds, and has hellacious ground and pound.

He is 7-1 at middleweight and is a threat to anyone he gets on top of.  If Munoz can get on top of Silva, he can batter his way to a TKO or decision victory.

That said, Silva does have solid takedown defense, and Munoz's takedowns have looked very stoppable.  Leben and Maia both thwarted many of Munoz's takedowns, and landed some of their own.

Munoz has also been hurt badly by worse strikers than Silva.  It is most likely that Silva would fend off Munoz's early takedowns and finish him with strikes early. 

2. Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson is currently enjoying victory in the UFC's light heavyweight division, but he has expressed some interest in having a rematch with The Spider if one becomes available to him.

In his first fight with Silva, he used his good wrestling and methodical ground and pound to be the first man to take a round from Silva.

Then he tested the waters standing in the second, and found himself rocked and submitted.

In a rematch, Henderson might be more disciplined in his approach and realize that Silva is too dangerous to stand with.

If he can stick to a game plan, he has a very solid chance at beating Silva. 

1. Chael Sonnen

Duh.

The man took four rounds from Silva in their first fight, only to succumb in the final round to a triangle/armbar from guard.

There is some controversy regarding how impressive Sonnen's performance really was.  He had highly elevated levels of testosterone that night, and Silva had an alleged rib injury that hindered him when the fight started.

But those factors considered, it is still apparent that Sonnen has the wrestling to take Silva down and punish him when he's there.

He is not immune to submissions or knockouts, but he has the skills to keep Silva where he is least dangerous, and has a very good chance at beating Silva.