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1.
Anderson Silva
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2.
Dan Henderson
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3.
Nate Marquardt
Who knows if he'd do any better against Anderson Silva in a rematch, but after three crushing stoppage victories over Martin Kampmann, Wilson Gouveia, and Demian Maia, Nate Marquardt has earned another shot at the middleweight belt. Clearly, Marquardt is a far more dangerous fighter than he was two years ago. Could an eliminator match against Dan Henderson be in order?
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4.
Yushin Okami
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5.
Jorge Santiago
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6.
Hector Lombard
After a dominant sweep through Bellator’s first middleweight tournament, Lombard has now gone 14-0-1 in his last 15 fights. The former Olympic judo competitor has been honing his skills at American Top Team and has serious momentum behind him — now all he needs are some higher-profile opponents.
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7.
Robbie Lawler
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8.
Yoshihiro Akiyama
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9.
Demian Maia
In only 21 seconds, Maia's status as BJJ's next great hope was obliterated. Did he "just get caught" against Nate Marquardt, or has Demian been exposed as too one-dimensional to compete at the highest level of the sport? He'll likely continue to choke out the UFC's mid-tier middleweights, but his chance to fight Anderson Silva may be gone for good.
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10.
Vitor Belfort
After scoring two fantastic knockouts while fighting as a middleweight in Affliction, the former UFC light-heavyweight champ is returning to the Octagon at UFC 103 in a 195-pound catchweight fight against Rich Franklin. No matter how it turns out, we expect the Phenom to drop back to 185 after his homecoming fight and quickly rise to top middleweight contender status.
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