Will Anderson Silva Ever Be Stopped?

Cote has won four UFC fights in a row and also stepped outside of the octagon to collect wins against Jason Day and Jason McDonald, so he is no slouch. Going off of most people’s assumptions, let's look at whom "The Spider" might fight next.

The obvious choice might still be Okami, once he’s healed. But in competitive sports, nothing is guaranteed, and fighters are always jockeying for position. Much has changed since Okami has been hurt, possibly enough to weaken his position and allow a new No. 1 contender.

First, let’s look at Marquardt.

After losing in his title shot to Silva, he chocked out Jeremy Horn, lost a controversial split decision (which most people disagree with) to Thales Leites, and destroyed Martin Kampmann.

Let’s take a close look at Okami’s road to getting a title shot.

After winning a unanimous decision agaisnt Mike Swick, he lost a unanimous decision to Rich Franklin (who subsequently got a second title shot). Okami went on to beat Jason McDonald and Evan Tanner (RIP).

This was considered enough to get a title shot. Ironically, Franklin beat Jason McDonald (before Okami) in route to getting his rematch. Apparently, the common denominator for Cote, Okami, and Franklin has been beating McDonald. Perhaps Demian Maia is close to his title shot after beating McDonald and Marquardt has one more fight to go!

Then there is Hendo, who had a good, but not dominating, fight against the very dangerous—and very short—Rousimar Palhares. They will probably make him fight another fight before getting another title shot, as at least two fights seems required.

Then there is the very marketable man from Britain, Michael Bisping. Although he sports wins over Jason Day and Charles McCarthy, following a split decision loss to Rashad Evans, this don’t seem like enough to get him in the mix just yet. And the timing of TUF 9 will play a factor, as it seems obvious they will want him to be the coach for Team Britain.

So where does that leave Silva?

We haven’t even discussed the possibility of him going back to fight at 205. If he does, that might give the middleweight division time to clear up, much like the lightweight division is doing in Penn’s absence.

I like the idea of letting Silva get another fight at 205, possibly at the Super Bowl weekend card.

Nate Marquardt vs. Dan Henderson would be a very intriguing fight, and Hendo said he only wants to take fights that will put him back in title contention. This will allow Okami time to heal and still get his already granted title shot against Silva.

This will keep Bisping on the sidelines for a while, so perhaps he can fight Jason McDonald! He could also potentially fight Thales Leites, after his fight with Goran Reljic (who should look to move up to light heavyweight) or the winner of Maia/Quarry. Any of those fights would be legitimate top-10 fights for Bisping and solidify his toughness if he wins.

After looking it over, a Marquardt/Henderson fight should definitely happen and could happen as early as UFC 92, although the UFC wants to stack UFC 93 (Super Bowl weekend) and it would be a great addition to the card.

Look for Silva vs. Okami to happen around the same time, as Silva likes to stay busy.

We have a lot of great fights to look forward to, and it will be fascinating to see how far Silva can transcend the sport of MMA. Does he lose in 2009, with four potential fights on the horizon?