UFC 138 Results: Mark Munoz and the Top 10 Middleweights in the UFC
On Saturday night—afternoon for people in the US—UFC 138 went down in Birmingham, England.
This card had little hype behind it, but as we have learned by this point, the most underhyped cards sometimes deliver the biggest fireworks.
This card was no different, as all five main card bouts ended in 10 minutes or less.
In the Leben-Munoz fight, the two went back and forth for 10 minutes, until after the second round, Chris Leben could no longer see out of his left eye, and the bout was called.
Now, Munoz is on a four-fight winning streak, with two straight wins over established veterans. Where does he stand in the middleweight division?
No. 10: Rousimar Palhares
1 of 10Having Palhares on a top 10 list just goes to show how weak the middleweight division is.
In his last fight, he won a unanimous decision over Dan Miller, who is 2-5 in his last seven.
Does anyone see Palhares as a real threat to the title?
Moving on...
No. 9: Chris Leben
2 of 10Chris Leben probably had the best year of his fighting career in 2010, but 2011 hasn't been nearly the same.
At UFC 125, Leben lost via first round TKO to Brian Stann, and ended any hopes for a title shot this year.
Then at UFC 132, Leben rebounded, knocking out Wanderlei Silva in less than a minute, and putting his name back "in the mix."
Then, Mark Munoz took it right back out of the mix, with a second-round corner stoppage when Leben could no longer see.
Leben has notable victories over Wanderlei Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Alessio Sakara, Jorge Santiago, Jorge Rivera, Patrick Cote and Mike Swick.
No. 8: Michael Bisping
3 of 10Coming in at No. 8 is "The Count," Michael Bisping.
Bisping is currently coaching opposite Jason "Mayhem" Miller on season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter and the two are set to fight on December 3 at the finale.
Should Bisping win, he is likely one or two more victories away from a title shot.
Bisping has notable victories over Jorge Rivera, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Chris Leben and Matt Hamill.
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No. 7: Demian Maia
4 of 10Demian Maia may be a former title challenger, but he hasn't been totally impressive lately.
Maia lost to Mark Muñoz earlier in the year, then won a unanimous decision over Jorge Santiago.
Maia has now gone his last seven fights without a submission victory, and without a fight night bonus.
Hopefully in his next fight he'll be able to pull out something and get back to his submitting ways.
Maia has notable victories over Jorge Santiago, Kendall Grove, Dan Miller, Chael Sonnen, Nate Quarry, Jason MacDonald and Ed Herman.
No. 6: Vitor Belfort
5 of 10Vitor Belfort is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and a one-time contender for the middleweight title.
Belfort is remembered by many for being front-kicked in the face at UFC 126, but since then, he has had a resounding win over Yoshihiro Akiyama.
Belfort was supposed to welcome Cung Le to the Octagon at UFC 139, but he was forced out and is now going to return at UFC 142, against Anthony Johnson.
Belfort has notable victories over Yoshihiro Akiyama, Rich Franklin, Matt Lindland, Randy Couture, Gilbert Yvel and Wanderlei Silva.
No. 5: Mark Muñoz
6 of 10Mark Muñoz has quietly worked himself into the title picture, and potentially could get a shot with one or two more wins.
On Saturday, Muñoz was able to stop Chris Leben at the end of the second round, as Leben could no longer see.
In his UFC/WEC career, Muñoz is 9-2, with his only losses being a KO loss to Matt Hamill at light heavyweight, and a split decision loss to Yushin Okami.
Muñoz has notable victories over Chris Leben, Demian Maia, C.B. Dollaway, Kendall Grove and Nick Catone.
Perhaps a fight with the next man on this list could be in the cards.
No. 4: Brian Stann
7 of 10At UFC 136, Chael Sonnen showed that Brian Stann isn't ready for the best of the best, as Sonnen submitted him in the second round, and was never in any danger from Stann.
Stann is now 3-1 at middleweight, with wins over Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.
He is still an elite middleweight, but due in part to the weakness of the division, he's just not ready for the cream of the crop.
A matchup with Munoz will be to see which of them could be the future of the middleweight division.
Stann has notable victories over Steve Cantwell, Mike Massenzio, Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.
No. 3: Yushin Okami
8 of 10Yushin Okami was last seen in action at UFC 134 where he got TKO'd by Anderson Silva in the second round of their title fight.
Prior to that loss, Okami was on a three-fight winning streak over Lucio Linhares, Mark Muñoz and Nate Marquardt.
Okami is an elite middleweight, and the only middleweights he's lost to in the UFC are Silva, Chael Sonnen and Rich Franklin.
Okami has notable victories over Nate Marquardt, Mark Muñoz, Evan Tanner, Mike Swick and Alan Belcher.
No. 2: Chael Sonnen
9 of 10This should be no surprise whatsoever.
Sonnen pushed the champion to the brink, and almost won a decision over the most dominant fighter in MMA history.
Sonnen being at No. 2 is basically a given, and everybody out there likely agrees with me.
Sonnen holds notable victories over Brian Stann, Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, Paulo Filho, Trevor Prangley and Jason "Mayhem" Miller.
No. 1: Anderson Silva
10 of 10This should come as even less of a surprise than Sonnen at No. 2.
Anderson Silva is the middleweight champion, and the most dominant fighter in MMA history.
His next fight will likely be against Chael Sonnen, in the biggest fight in UFC history.
Silva has notable victories over Yushin Okami, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin (2x), Nate Marquardt, Chris Leben, Jorge Rivera and Carlos Newton.
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