Ranking Best Available Opponents for Anderson Silva

The MMA world is gunning for Anderson Silva now more than ever.

Since his win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 148, Silva has received a plethora of open challenges from fighters in the welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.

No fighter in the history of the UFC has dominated the sport like Silva, who recently extended his record for most consecutive title defenses to 10. He has reigned over the middleweight division for nearly six years.

What more is there for Silva to accomplish?

He has already shot down hopes of a potential move to 205 pounds. UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is plenty busy at 170 pounds, and quite frankly, he appears uninterested in facing Silva at middleweight.

All that's left for Silva at middleweight are rematches and non-marquee championship bouts.

The window of Silva's career is closing. Every fighter dreams of being the one to finally topple perhaps the greatest fighter in MMA history. The Silva and Sonnen feud may be over, but there are plenty of intriguing options left for "The Spider."

Here are the top five best available opponents for Anderson Silva.

Tim Boetsch

Tim Boetsch could be the most deserving of a shot against Silva.

The Maine native is currently riding a four-fight win streak, including victories over former Bellator champ Hector Lombard and former UFC title contender Yushin Okami.

Boetsch boasts a granite chin along with ferocious, dirty boxing skills.

He also has great takedowns and a solid ground game, which tends to be the most underrated aspect of his skill set.

Unfortunately, Boetsch lacks personality, and fans aren't overly excited about seeing him compete for a world title.

Nick Diaz

Nick Diaz is a very intriguing opponent for Silva, at least from a marketing perspective.

When it comes to fighting, Diaz is as real as it gets. He would flip off the devil in a cage fight if given the opportunity.

Coming off a controversial decision loss to Carlos Condit, it would be tough to convince the masses Diaz deserves a title shot, but stranger things have happened in regards to the UFC title picture.

Vitor Belfort

At UFC 126, Silva left a bad taste in Vitor Belfort's mouth, literally.

In perhaps the best knockout in 2011, the UFC champ landed a brilliant front kick to Belfort's face.

Belfort, who is set to take on Alan Belcher at UFC 153, has been clamoring for a rematch ever since.

Given the options in such a thin middleweight division, it wouldn't be shocking to see the UFC do some shuffling to pair Belfort against Silva.

Belcher, who is also in the title hunt, could take on former UFC champion Rich Franklin instead.

Chris Weidman

In the post-fight show for UFC on Fuel 4, Sonnen called Chris Weidman "the best middleweight in the UFC."

Weidman certainly impressed in his second-round knockout victory over Mark Munoz.

Other than his much-improved striking, Weidman's wrestling stuck out most. He made Munoz, an NCAA Division I champion wrestler, look like a cakewalk in the grappling department.

At only 28 years of age, Weidman boasts an undefeated record with wins over Demian Maia, Tom Lawlor and Alessio Sakara.

Stylistically, he is probably the best matchup for Silva at 185 pounds, but would fans be interested in seeing it?

Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans is by far the best matchup available for Silva.

This is the type of marquee fight Silva is searching for. Evans is a former UFC light heavyweight champion who boasts a significant stylistic challenge.

If there is one wrinkle in Silva's game, it has to be his wrestling.

Sonnen, Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter have each taken a round from Silva by dragging the fight to the floor and controlling from top.

Outside of Jon Jones, Evans is the best wrestler in the light heavyweight division. It'll be interesting to see if Silva could shrug off takedowns from a world class wrestler in a higher weight class.

With that said, it really wouldn't be fair in allowing Evans, who is coming off a decision loss to Jones, to leapfrog Weidman and Boetsch. Both of these guys have been in the trenches at 185 pounds, paying their dues for a shot at UFC gold.

Unfortunately, it's not always about what's fair.

What do the people want to see?