UFC 139 Predictions: Wanderlei Silva and the 5 Hardest Hitting Middleweights

UFC 139 is just a few short hours away as the UFC will travel to San Jose, California to air live in front of a sold-out HP Pavilion.

UFC 139 can be seen on pay-per-view television and will begin at 6:00 p.m. PT and 9:00 p.m. ET.

The main event of the evening will be headlined around two of the light heavyweight's most dangerous strikers in Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Also featured on the main card is hard-hitting Wanderlei Silva, who will look to bounce back from his recent defeat when he squares off with UFC newcomer, Cung Le.

And while Silva is certainly one of the hardest hitters in the 185-pound weight class, he's certainly not the only one.

So, the following slides display the five hardest hitters in the middleweight division today.

Let's take a look.

5. Wanderlei Silva

Despite being on the worst stretch of his mixed martial arts career, Wanderlei Silva remains one of the hardest hitters in the middleweight division.

Over the course of his long-lived career, "The Axe Murderer" has knocked out an amazing 24 opponents in just 33 victories.

Even when Silva doesn't come out on top, he gives his opponent a taste of his hard hitting as many of his bouts have been recognized as some of the greatest of all time.

Silva has knocked out the likes of Quinton "Rampage Jackson twice and Keith Jardine.

4. Chris Leben

Chris Leben may be the scariest, funniest and weirdest fighter in the middleweight division today, but he's also one of its hardest hitters.

One thing's a guarantee when Leben enters the Octagon: he'll be swinging for the fences until the fight is stopped or the final bell rings.

Over half of Leben's victories have come from a direct result of the knockout as he's totaled 12 over the course of his career.

Leben's knocked out Mike Swick, Jorge Rivera and Wanderlei Silva.

3. Brian Stann

Brian Stann is another example of one of the hardest strikers not just in the middleweight division, but the entire UFC.

In fact, when many UFC fans think of Stann, they immediately think of how vicious his striking is as he can impose his heavy hitting in the stand-up or on the ground.

In just 11 career wins, Stann has finished off his opponent by way of knockout eight different times.

Stann has knocked out Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.

2. Vitor Belfort

Despite being knocked out via front kick by Anderson Silva at UFC 126, Vitor Belfort has been on an absolute tear to the top of the middleweight division.

And, along the way, Belfort has knocked out four of his last five opponents.

However, it's not just recently that Belfort's been unleashing his heavy hitting as he's being doing it his entire career.

Over the years, Belfort has knocked out Rich Franklin, Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva.

1. Anderson Silva

Many UFC fans across the globe believe Anderson Silva to be the hardest hitting middleweight in the world.

Since the day he stepped foot inside the Octagon until now, Silva has posted a perfect 14-0 record, with nine of them resulting from the knockout blow.

Over the course of Silva's historical career, he's knocked out light heavyweight Forrest Griffin, Yushin Okami, Vitor Belfort and Rich Franklin.

Not only is Silva the heaviest hitter in the 185-pound weight class, but one of top strikers in the entire UFC.