Sorting out the Contenders, Pretenders in the UFC Middleweight Division
Atop the middleweight mountain stands Chris Weidman. He's young, big, strong and capable of competing with and defeating everybody who stands in front of him.
Champion-like qualities aside, his controversial victories over Anderson Silva left much to be desired. Understandably so, a fluke knockout and a broken shin created questions that we needed to be answered.
Then he stepped into the cage with Lyoto Machida and silenced most of his critics. He's the real deal.
After Weidman lies a crop of fighters who are all vying to compete for UFC gold. Some are the real deal; some even have the skills to dethrone the ultra-confident Ray Longo-trained fighter. But many aren't and don't.
Scroll along as we brand each of the UFC's top 10 middleweights as a contender or a pretender. For the purposes of this article, contenders are those who stand a chance (slim or otherwise) of defeating the champion. Pretenders, on the other hand, do not.
No. 10: CB Dollaway
1 of 10
With six years of Octagon experience, CB Dollaway is easily one of the more experienced fighters on this list.
He'll be taking that lengthy experience into the cage with him when he squares off against Lyoto Machida at UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, Brazil. It won't be an easy task for the UFC journeyman; it wouldn't be an easy task for any of the other fighters on this list, for that matter.
Once you start to realize that Dollaway has been in the UFC for six years and has yet to be anywhere near a title bout, you can quantify where he belongs on this list. There are few people outside of the Dollaway family tree who think he can defeat the former light heavyweight champ—he's outmatched.
Verdict: Pretender
No. 9: Michael Bisping
2 of 10
Prior to the beating he gave Cung Le just two months ago, Michael Bisping had a 2-3 record in his previous five bouts. He's now batting an even .500 in his last six, but that still isn't enough to convince people to pay to watch this guy in any sort of fight for the crown. He hasn't earned it yet.
He'll try and earn his keep next month when he steps into the cage with Luke Rockhold in what will likely be the culminating event in their long-running feud together. They make us believe they don't like each other. For all intents and purposes, we want to believe.
What we can't believe in just yet are Bisping's chances against the former Strikeforce middleweight champion or any other former middleweight kingpins.
Verdict: Pretender
No. 8: Gegard Mousasi
3 of 10
Gegard Mousasi entered the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden as one of the best strikers to never perform under the bright lights of the UFC.
With a tranquil approach to fighting, Mousasi dismantled his debut opponent in Ilir Latifi.
He wouldn't have such an easy task in his second bout inside the Octagon, losing a unanimous decision to former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in a five-round affair. His elusive striking proved inferior to Machida's elusive striking.
He would rebound in dominant fashion, disposing of Mark Munoz in less than four minutes of the opening round before dropping a submission loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.
Mousasi has shown the ability to contend with the division's lesser fighters but struggle when faced with the division's best.
Verdict: Pretender
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
No. 7: Tim Kennedy
4 of 10
A loss to former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold lit a fire under Tim Kennedy. He would supplement the five-round defeat with four straight victories of his own—compelling most people to watch him take the final steps in his journey toward the UFC crown.
Then he ran into a faster, stronger Yoel Romero, who simply refused to be a chapter in Kennedy's story. Save for a barrage of punches that came in the closing seconds of Round 2, Kennedy struggled. He was outstruck, outwrestled and outclassed for a majority of that bout.
It all came to an emphatic finish when Romero managed to leave Kennedy face down on the UFC mat, while referee John McCarthy saved the former Strikeforce title challenger from suffering any more unnecessary damage.
Chances are that Kennedy uses the frustration he suffered from this loss to take his game to greater heights in his next outing.
Verdict: Contender
No. 6: Yoel Romero
5 of 10
You can't place all the blame on him. Plenty of people screwed up in letting him continue on into the third round of his bout with Tim Kennedy.
But the fact of the matter is that he was winning that fight. With the exception of those waning seconds of Round 2 when Kennedy was able to clip the former Olympian, Yoel Romero was winning that fight. And for all intents and purposes, he did win that fight.
Having only competed in MMA for five years now, there's no telling how high his ceiling is in the middleweight division.
That's not to say that he has what it takes to take out the champ—who knows if anybody does, really—but he has the skills to, at the very least, compete against Weidman.
Verdict: Contender
No. 5: Luke Rockhold
6 of 10
He made the conscious decision of stepping into the cage with Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8 in Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil. He was well-aware of the lengths Belfort went to in preparing for his bouts as a 36-year-old fighter.
He made a mistake, and Belfort made him pay for it with a spinning heel kick to the face. Rockhold's preparatory efforts would be deemed irrelevant just two minutes, 32 seconds into the first round.
Rockhold also made a conscious decision of improving his efforts inside of the cage against any opponent he could get his hands on.
First, it was Constantinos Philippou.
Then it was Tim Boetsch.
There's no reason to believe his upcoming opponent won't end up like his previous two.
Verdict: Contender
No. 4: Lyoto Machida
7 of 10
Few people were ever able to look at Lyoto Machida and deem him an undersized 205er—he was overly capable of holding his own with some of the best fighters the light heavyweight division had to offer.
It wasn't until he dropped to middleweight that most of us were able to finally see The Dragon perform in his natural weight class. He was home and ready to do his thing.
He looked frightening in his debut at 185 pounds against Mark Munoz. He looked dominant in his second outing at middleweight. Even in a losing effort for the middleweight crown, Machida showed most of us why he's seen sustained success in this business.
He may have already lost in his chance for gold, but it won't be his last.
Verdict: Contender
No. 3: Vitor Belfort
8 of 10
He stepped into the cage against Michael Bisping and ended the bout with a head-kick knockout.
He stepped into the cage against Luke Rockhold and ended the bout with a head-kick knockout.
He stepped into the cage against Dan Henderson and ended the bout with a head-kick knockout.
He'll step into the cage against Chris Weidman in early 2015 with hopes of accomplishing the same—chances are, he probably won't.
The reality is that, at 37 years old, Vitor Belfort felt he needed testosterone replacement therapy to compete at the highest level. He won't have that in his second attempt for middleweight gold, and rest assured that the champion will do everything he can to show the world what kind of fighter the challenger is in the post-TRT era.
Verdict: Pretender
No. 2: Ronaldo Souza
9 of 10
On Sept. 10, 2011, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza was the best middleweight fighter outside of the UFC. On Sept. 11, 2011, he wasn't.
He lost his Strikeforce middleweight crown to Luke Rockhold in a five-round affair. He's since racked off seven straight victories over the likes of Ed Herman, Yushin Okami and Francis Carmont. Jacare even managed to avenge a loss to Gegard Mousasi last month after submitting him within three rounds.
He's no longer just a grappler with an affinity for submissions—he's a striker, too.
Souza will have to put his title aspirations on hold as he mends his second surgically repaired elbow in 2014. Rest assured that he'll return to the top of the division in early 2015 with his eyes on the champion's gold.
Verdict: Contender
No. 1: Anderson Silva
10 of 10
He had a chance to close the book on Chris Weidman's hype back in July of 2013. He danced around, acted a fool and found himself staring at the ceiling while the younger fighter was figuring out whether or not his preferred airline would allow for such a heavy carry-on. Despite the knockout, Anderson Silva maintained most of his strong support.
He had his chance to reaffirm the new champion's doubters in a rematch in December of 2013. He took the fight seriously, kept his hands up but managed to snap his shin on Weidman's knee. The support only grew for Silva, while the doubts multiplied for Weidman—the fight that could be ultimately never was.
Ten months after the gruesome injury, the former pound-for-pound best finds himself a few months away from his highly anticipated return to the cage. Questions will exist. Answers will be provided.
All that we know right now is that Silva's sights aren't just on making a comeback; he wants to make an impact. He won't rule out a third fight with Weidman, so why should we?
Verdict: Contender
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University's student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
