UFC 126: Anderson Silva and the Top 10 Brazilians Currently in the UFC

Since the sport began, Brazil has been a hotbed for MMA talent. Brazilians currently hold three of the seven UFC belts. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Jose Aldo will defend their UFC titles for the first time in 2011. Meanwhile, Anderson Silva has reigned over the middleweight division for more than four years now.

Junior Dos Santos could fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship with a win over Brock Lesnar, Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva are contenders at light heavyweight, and welterweight Thiago Alves looked to be in top form in his last fight. With the depth of Brazilian talent, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that all seven UFC titles could be held by Brazil natives at some point.

At UFC 126, two Brazilians will fight to determine the UFC Middleweight Champion. Vitor Belfort will attempt to become the first fighter in more than five years to defeat A. Silva. Either way, the middleweight title will stay with a Brazilian.

10. Thiago Silva

Some excellent fighters had to be sacrificed in order to cut this list down to ten. Sneaking in as the tenth best Brazilian fighter currently in the UFC was Thiago Silva. By a slight margin, Silva edged out fighters like the Nogueira brothers, Paulo Thiago, Rousimar Palhares, and Diego Nunes.

After a long hiatus due to injury, Silva looked good in his return to the Octagon with a dominating victory over Brandon Vera. The only two losses of Silva's career have come against former champions Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida.

Born in Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Silva's next fight will come against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 130. If Silva defeats Jackson, who is coming off of a win over Machida, he could become the topic of title shot conversations.

9. Demian Maia

Since losing to Anderson Silva in a championship fight, Demian Maia has rebounded with consecutive victories over Mario Miranda and Kendall Grove. Aside from Silva, the only other fighter that Maia has lost to is Nate Marquardt.

One of the best BJJ practitioners in the UFC, Maia has always had an advantage over his opponents on the ground. After being embarrassed on his feet by Silva, Maia has focused on improving his boxing. The work has appeared to pay off in Maia's last two fights.

Still, Maia needs to show that he can stand with elite middleweights before he gets another shot at the belt. He doesn't need to become a great striker, but Maia does need to be able to hold his own on his feet long enough to take the fight to the ground.From there, almost any fight is Maia's to lose.

8. Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva might rank higher than this in a list of the greatest Brazilian MMA fighters of all time, but he has struggled lately. Silva is 2-5 in his last seven fights, but he may have found a new home at middleweight with a win over Michael Bisping in his last fight.

After undergoing knee surgery after his fight with Bisping, Silva has been out of action for nearly one year. Recently, Brian Stann said he would like to be the first to fight Silva upon his return to the Octagon. Silva has not been as excited about the match-up and remains without a scheduled opponent. 

7. Thiago Alves

Only 1-2 in his last three fights, Thiago Alves might not be the hottest fighter on this list at the moment. Still, you can't really fault Alves too much for his losses. In the last five years, the only fighters to defeat Alves have been Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, widely regarded as the top two welterweight fighters in the world.

Since losing to Fitch, Alves has improved his diet and it appeared to pay off in his last fight against John Howard. Alves completely dominated Howard in a unanimous decision victory. The new diet is a major step in the right direction for Alves, who has failed to make weight twice in his UFC career.

Prior to his consecutive losses to St. Pierre and Fitch, Alves had won seven straight fights against some of the best welterweights in the world. Alves will need to go on a similar streak in order to get another shot at fighting for the title. Alves' next opponent will likely be Rick Story at UFC 130. 

6. Lyoto Machida

Lyoto Machida is another great Brazilian fighter who has had trouble finding success inside the Octagon recently. Machida lost to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in his last two fights. Prior to this short skid, Machida had been undefeated in 16 career fights.

Now, Machida will face Randy Couture at UFC 129. This will be a very important fight for Machida, who could be back in the mix for light heavyweight title contention with a win. However, a third loss in row could put the UFC in a position where they would have to think about cutting Machida.

5. Vitor Belfort

In September 2009, Vitor Belfort joined Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida as the only fighters to finish Rich Franklin. On a five fight winning streak, Belfort is one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC.

With his win over Franklin, Belfort had earned a shot at the middleweight belt. However, the championship fight would initially be postponed because of an injury Silva had suffered. Then, a rescheduled title fight would be canceled because of a Belfort injury.

Finally, Belfort will get his chance to fight Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 126. Having been idle for more than a year, ring rust could play a factor in Belfort's return fight.

4. Junior Dos Santos

In his six UFC fights, Junior Dos Santos has demolished all competition placed in front of him. After his latest win over Roy Nelson, Dos Santos was promised a title shot. However, UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez was injured and Dos Santos did not want to wait for him return.

As a result, Dos Santos was named a coach for The Ultimate Fighter Season 13. Brock Lesnar will be coaching against Dos Santos and the two fighters will meet at the end of the show to determine which fighter will get to welcome Velasquez back to the Octagon.

It is admirable that Dos Santos chose to fight instead of putting himself on the shelf as Velasquez healed. However, Dos Santos is risking a title shot in what could be the biggest test of his UFC career against Lesnar.

3. Maurico Rua

After losing a controversial decision to Lyoto Machida in their first meeting, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua ensured that a rematch didn't go to the scorecards. By knocking Machida out in under four minutes, Rua became the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

Following his victory, Rua was forced to get knee surgery, which has kept him out of competition since the May 2010 fight. Rua is scheduled to defend his title for the first time against Rashad Evans at UFC 128.

2. Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo is currently on an eleven fight winning streak. Most recently, Aldo finished Manny Gamburyan in the second round of their fight tot retain the WEC Featherweight Championship for the second time. Now UFC Featherweight Champion, Aldo will make his UFC debut at UFC 129 against Mark Hominick.

Widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Aldo will finally get to fight on the sport's biggest stage. If Aldo continues to dominate challengers at featherweight, a lightweight superfight could be on the horizon.   

1. Anderson Silva

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: Anderson Silva celebrates after defeating Forrest Griffin during their light heavyweight bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Dominated by Chael Sonnen for four and a half rounds, Anderson Silva received a scare in his last fight. Still, Silva has won 13 consecutive fights and has defended his UFC Middleweight Championship seven consecutive times. Also, Silva fought with a cracked rib for most of the fight with Sonnen.

As a result of the rib injury, Silva has not fought since the bout with Sonnen in August 2010. If Silva is able to defeat Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 and George St. Pierre is also able to win his next fight, the two champions could square off in what could possibly be the biggest fight in UFC history.