Anderson Silva, UFC Middleweight Champion: Does Rock, Paper, or Scissors Win?

The top contenders in the UFC middleweight division are currently like a game of rock-paper-scissors. The question is: do any of them beat Anderson Silva? 

Maia

At UFC 112, Demian Maia will be fighting for the middleweight title, despite being only one fight removed from his first round knockout loss at the hands of Nate Marquardt.

Though not many expect Maia to beat the champion, Anderson Silva, he does present a dangerous style matchup for him.

Silva’s two most notable defeats came by submission in the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships. First of which being a loss by triangle choke to Daiju Takase, and the second loss by flying scissor heel hook to Ryo Chonan.

Demian Maia, Takase and Chonan are not. Maia is second to none when it comes to submission fighting.

While I don’t think Silva will have to defend many flying scissor heel hooks, he will be in very deep water if their fight hits the ground. And we have seen how hesitant Silva is when fighting someone that has him overmatched on the ground, e.g., Thales Leitas.

However, it is no easy task getting Silva to the ground. Silva will not be trying for takedowns like Chael Sonnen had when he was submitted by Maia back in February of 2009.

Sonnen

Next in line after Maia for a shot at the title is Chael Sonnen. While Chael is just three fights removed from an embarrassing first round submission loss to Maia, those three fights are all the most impressive of his entire career.

Sonnen was an underdog in each of them, and he would no doubt be an underdog against Silva, but he does present what some believe to be the proverbial code to Silva’s safe, i.e., a strong wrestler that sticks to the game plan.

The one round in the UFC that most agree Silva lost was the first round against Dan Henderson. Dan got him down and held him there, landing some minor ground and pound, but nonetheless winning the round.

In the second round of that fight, Henderson strayed from the game plan and got caught trying to trade shots with Silva. You can be mostly sure that Sonnen wouldn’t mind just sticking to his wrestling throughout the entire fight, as he did in his most recent win over Nate Marquardt.

Marquardt

Going into 2010, Nate Marquardt was clearly the No. 1 contender in the middleweight division. He was coming off three impressive stoppage victories, including a first round knockout of Demian Maia.

Marquardt represents the most well rounded of all the contenders, able to finish fights by either submission or knockout. However, in his last fight, Chael Sonnen showed there are holes in his game, out-wrestling Marquardt and keeping him mostly offenseless on his back.

If it weren’t for a large gash Sonnen sustained in his win over Marquardt, Sonnen would likely be the one challenging Silva at UFC 112.

Although Nate has fought and lost to Silva before, I do believe he is twice the fighter he was before that loss. If wrestling is Nate’s weakness, I doubt that would come into play anyway in a fight with Silva, since wrestling is not one of Silva’s weapons.

Nate might have just as many weapons as Silva, and though Silva might be much speedier, Nate makes up for it in brute strength.

So it breaks down like this: Marquardt beats Maia, Maia beats Sonnen, and Sonnen beats Marquardt.

Do any of them beat The Spider?