Middleweight 1-23-08

<!-- start -->

Rank

Fighter

Comments

1.

Anderson Silva

2.

Dan Henderson

Quinton Jackson may have unified the PRIDE/UFC 205-pound titles with his five-round beating of Henderson last September, but Hendo is still the reigning PRIDE champ at 183 pounds, and has beaten the best that the now-defunct Japanese organization had to offer, including Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Even a good showing in a loss to Anderson Silva on March 1st might be enough to keep him at #2.

3.

Robbie Lawler

4.

Paulo Filho

Based on his 16-0 record (which includes wins over Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Ryo Chonan, and Kazuo Misaki), we can’t rank Filho any lower than #4. But part-time fighter Chael Sonnen made him look like a bitch at WEC 31 in December, and would have won if he hadn’t fallen into an armbar. Filho’s fearsome rep was tarnished that night, and he’s officially on CagePotato Notice.

5.

Matt Lindland

6.

Rich Franklin

7.

Jason Miller

8.

Frank Shamrock

People talk about Frank like he’s a relic from the past, and don’t give him enough credit for the current threat that he is. Outside of an illegal-knee disqualification loss to Renzo Gracie, Shamrock hasn’t lost a fight since 1997. We see him whipping Cung Le, his brother Ken, and any other middleweight who isn’t prepared to handle his top-notch submissions and cage experience.

9.

Kazuo Misaki

10.

Yushin Okami

<!-- end -->