Silva vs. Sonnen Results: Will Anderson Silva Retire Undefeated in the UFC?

Anderson Silva defeated the biggest challenger to his UFC title in his illustrious career after dropping Chael Sonnen in the second round at UFC 148 on Sunday at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The UFC middleweight champion survived being dominated by Sonnen and overcame great adversity.

At age 37, Silva is entering the twilight years of his career yet is still performing at an elite level. Yet the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world is left without a clear direction in his career at this point. His biggest rival has been effectively removed from the title picture and very few fighters seem to have the skills to dethrone the champion.

With Silva seemingly becoming more and more unbeatable with each title defense, fans have to be wondering if "The Spider" will keep the UFC middleweight belt until he retires?

Silva still has a few years of fighting time remaining in his body and has yet to slow down inside the Octagon. A string of new challengers will be competing over the course of 2012 to secure a title shot and hope to end Silva's reign of dominance.

Do they have what it takes or will Silva remain the UFC champion until he leaves the Octagon forever?

Mark Munoz

Mark Munoz was on the cusp of a title shot after defeating Chris Leben at UFC 138. The win was Munoz's fourth in a row and perhaps his most impressive showing to date.

Instead of a title shot, Munoz was expected to take on Chael Sonnen in Jan. but an elbow injury sidelined "The Filipino Wrecking Machine." Munoz is set to take on the fast-rising prospect Chris Weidman on July 11 and will likely be the next title challenger with a victory.

Munoz has one of the best wrestling pedigrees in the division, but it hasn't translated into a dominant top game. His takedowns aren't as strong as one would expect, but foes can expect a long night should Munoz end up on top of them.

He has some of the most powerful ground strikes in the division and has power in his punches as well. Regardless of the power in his hands, fans would be hard pressed to believe Munoz could use that power on Anderson Silva.

Munoz hasn't shown the ability to use combinations to land his power punches and his takedowns would need to get better if he would want to take "The Spider" to the mat. He would have a "puncher's chance" on the feet due to his power, but unquestionably Munoz would look to take the fight to the mat.

Munoz has the skills to defeat Silva, but as of now I can't see him being able to fully utilize them to take Silva's UFC title. Silva would school Munoz on the feet and Munoz would struggle to take Silva down. The one advantage Munoz has over Sonnen is that Munoz's ground strikes would definitely cause a stoppage if he landed with enough frequency.

Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping may have lost to Chael Sonnen in Jan. but Bisping still looked impressive in defeat. The decision has been hotly contested amongst fans and Bisping could very well be one impressive victory away from a title shot.

Bisping has used his blend of volume striking with an underrated ground game to become one of the best middleweights in the UFC. Prior to the Sonnen loss, Bisping had won four straight fights. The winning streak began with two dominant decision victories and ended with two TKO stoppages.

With a likely showdown with Brian Stann in his future, a good showing may be enough for Bisping to reinsert himself into the title picture.

The biggest problem in Bisping's career thus far is his failure to succeed against top-level competition. We've seen this happen before when Bisping lost to Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva and Sonnen after putting together some nice winning streaks.

If Bisping were to challenge Anderson Silva for the title he'd undoubtedly enter the bout as a huge underdog. It is for that reason that Bisping would likely shock many MMA fans as they'd give him little chance against "The Spider."

Still, I don't see Bisping putting everything together to defeat Silva. He doesn't have the KO power or speed to tag Silva on the feet and doesn't possess the takedown ability to grind out a five-round decision. He would do better than expected, but ultimately I don't see the Brit being the one to end Silva's reign.

Hector Lombard

Dana White has stated that Hector Lombard could be next in line for a title shot should he be as good as advertised in his UFC debut (h/t Matt Erickson, mmajunkie.com).

The longtime Bellator champion has yet to taste defeat since 2006 and became one of the best fighters outside the Zuffa umbrella. Lombard was originally scheduled to debut against Brian Stann but will now take on the tough Tim Boetsch at UFC 149.

Lombard's main martial arts background centers on his skills in judo. A fourth-degree black belt in judo and former Olympic competitor, Lombard has added a black belt in jiu-jitsu as well. Aside from his grappling credentials, Lombard has shown to have some serious power in his striking, evident from his 17 knockout victories.

At this point, Lombard's chances against Anderson Silva is nothing more than a big question mark. Lombard has looked extremely impressive but has yet to step into the Octagon. We will have a good barometer of how Lombard would fare against Silva based on his showing at UFC 149.

The former Bellator champion has the KO power to end the fight and the grappling credentials to take the fight to the mat. But nobody can honestly say Lombard would lose or win without seeing him face off against "UFC-level" competition.