Post UFC 134: 5 Fights Outside Middleweight for Anderson Silva

Anderson "The Spider" Silva, in typical fashion, dominated his challenger and defeated him by second round TKO.

With Okami beat, there isn't much left at middleweight.  All that's left for him at middleweight is the winner of Stann vs. Sonnen.  More middleweights can be built up over time, but the UFC brass isn't going to keep Silva on the sidelines for longer than necessary.

Provided he beats Sonnen, expect him to move up to light heavyweight to take on some new competition while the UFC tries to put life back into the middleweight division.

No. 5: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson would be an interesting matchup for Silva.  It's conceivable he'd be handled the same way Griffin was, but Jackson makes better use of dirty boxing and has better head movement, so he could probably put up a better fight.

No. 4: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

His loss to Jon "Bones" Jones considered, Rua is still probably the best striker in the light heavyweight division.

He has huge power in his right hand, and has knockout wins over Griffin, Liddell and Machida.  They are both Brazilian, but they aren't from the same camp and would probably have no problem fighting each other.

Neither fighter will look for the takedown and neither fighter will try to do anything but knock the other guy out.  It would probably be the best striker vs. striker matchup in recent history.

No. 3: Rashad Evans

This fight is interesting for a few reasons.  It's stylistically interesting since Evans is one of the more well-rounded light heavyweights. He has both good, fast striking and good takedowns and control.  But what makes this fight more interesting is that it almost happened.

When Silva moved up in weight to fight Griffin, Evans had just lost his championship to Machida.  Silva and Machida are close, and Silva said he wouldn't fight Machida and would be content to fight at middleweight.  But if Evans beat Machida, we may well have seen Silva try to avenge his friend's loss.

No. 2: George St. Pierre

Let's face it: GSP isn't moving up to 185 in Silva's lifetime.  But he might be willing to do a catch weight bout at 177 or so.

They are the two most dominant champions in UFC's history, and have both nearly cleared out their divisions.

While this is the fight with the best name value, it doesn't have the most appealing stylistic matchup. Unless GSP's next fight gives us reason to believe otherwise, it's fair to assume he'll continue playing to his strengths and avoid the stand-up with Silva completely.

I doubt Silva could submit GSP from his guard, so it's just a matter of Silva managing to finish GSP in the few minutes the fight stays on the feet.

No. 1: Jon "Bones" Jones

There's no guarantee that Jon "Bones" Jones will be able to hold onto his belt against both Jackson and Evans.  There's also no guarantee Silva would be willing to fight Jones, a man he considers a friend.

But if it did happen, it would be the MMA super-fight of the ages.

Jones would have the wrestling advantage.  He may eat some powerful punches or knees in the process, but he could surely take Silva down whenever he chooses.

But that isn't how Jones will fight.  He said he wants to be a champion with striking as good as Silva's, and he'll test the waters.

Both fighters are dynamic and largely unpredictable strikers.  Jones would have the reach advantage, but Silva is the faster, more technical striker.

This is the most interesting possible matchup.  The most dominant champion against the the most hyped light heavyweight champion in recent history.  If the UFC gets Silva to move up to 205, this is the fight they should ultimately be looking to make.