UFC Fantasy Tournament: Middleweight Division, Round One

Welcome to the UFC Fantasy Tournament as the middleweight tournament is about to start. First off, let's look at the results for the finals of the tournament in the welterweight division.

Like last year, Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves made it to the top, but is the result the same?

Well, Jon Fitch won the welterweight tournament by a 8-4 vote over Thiago Alves.

So congratulations to Fitch on his win, but it's time to look ahead, and that means the 185 pound division.

First Round, Fight One: Vitor Belfort vs Yushin Okami

Vitor Belfort isn't called "The Phenom" for anything. He took the UFC by storm when he first arrived in 1997, and has looked impressive ever since. He has made a living of brutal KO wins, showing that he has some of the fastest hands in his weight division.

Yushin Okami has been a solid top 10 middleweight since his first fight in the UFC. Suffering only two losses in nine fights since coming to the UFC, Okami is a force to be reckoned with for sure.

A fight between Belfort and Okami would probably spark the interest in alot of MMA fans.

Vitor Belfort is a feared striker with fast hands, who holds several brutal KO wins in his career. Even though he is a black belt in BJJ, Belfort has showed holes in his ground game, and that's Okami's strength. Okami is a powerful middleweight who wears down opponents with takedowns and ground-and-pound.

A striking fight is in Vitor's best interest while Okami would love to take it to the ground. It's also important to say that Yushin Okami has only been stopped once in his career, and that was way back in 2003.

Who advances?

First Round, Fight Two: Demian Maia vs Yoshihiro Akiyama

Some have said that Demian Maia is the second coming of Royce Gracie, but Maia could possibly be even better then Gracie ever was in BJJ. Maia is as decorated a submission grappler as it gets having won multiple tournaments in Brazil. He has finished five of his UFC wins by submission and earned "Submission of the Night honors" on four occasions.

Yoshihiro Akiyama is a well-rounded fighter that made his debut in the UFC with a win over Alan Belcher. Akiyama is a black belt in Judo and has good strikes and good submissions to accompany that.

This fight between Japan and Brazil would be quite interesting. Akiyama is a talented grappler who has underrated striking skills. The question is whether or not he can avoid the submission attempts of Maia. We saw Demian improve his boxing in his fight with Dan Miller, but his main weapon remains his BJJ skills.

Does "Sexyama" have the tools to beat Demian Maia? 

First Round, Fight Three: Wanderlei Silva vs Chael Sonnen

Wanderlei "The Axe Murdere" Silva is a dangerous striker with KO power in his hands and knees. Known for striking fear in the eyes of his opponents in Pride, Wanderlei Silva is a legend of the sport who should never be taken lightly.

The WEC middleweight champion Chael Sonnen probably didn't make anybody's top 10 list when he came to the UFC. That has all changed with wins over Dan Miller, Yushin Okami, and Nate Marquardt. Sonnen is a grinder who finds a way to win each of his fights.

Chael Sonnen will be the first to tell you he isn't the best striker or submission fighter in the UFC, but he fights his fight and wins when he isn't expected to win. Sonnen is a powerful middleweight who has a great background in wrestling, but could he keep "Wandy" grounded?

Wanderlei Silva has a deadly clinch and vicious hands that have KO quite a few fighters. He would have a clear cut advantage standing up against Sonnen, but could he overcome the wrestling of Sonnen? Let's not forget, Silva is a black belt in BJJ and trains with Demian Maia.

Who wins this fight? 

First Round, Fight Four: Michael Bisping vs Nate Marquardt

Alot of people would be tempted to count Michael Bisping out of this fight as soon as it would start. Keep in mind, Bisping is a well-rounded fighter who was stopped only once since dropping down to 185. He has good strikes and an underrated ground game.

Nate Marquardt is also very well-rounded, having good strikes, good wrestling, and a good ground game too. These fighters fight extremely similar and share many of the same qualities. Both men have great strikes, we saw Bisping dominate Leben and Marquardt dominate Gouveia.

Marquardt is most likeley the better wrestler, but Bisping is a hard guy to keep down. Nate's training partner Rashad Evans couldn't keep Bisping down for too long when they fought at UFC 78, and Evans is bigger then Nate.

Both guys have good grounds games to sum it all up. Bisping has several submission wins and has never been submitted in his career. Marquardt also has several submission wins, and tapped out only twice in his career.

This would probably come down to who wants it more, who can grind out and win, who has more heart, what do you think?