middleweights

From Sportsnet.ca:

Marquardt is on a three-fight win streak, most recently knocking out Demian Maia in 21 seconds at UFC 102. Sonnen has won his last two, scoring unanimous decisions over highly-regarded middleweights Dan Miller and Yushin Okami. It's an interesting matchup that raises some important questions: First off, does this mean that Dan Henderson has officially left the UFC? Last week, Dana White said he was certain that Henderson had been signed by Strikeforce, though his manager denied it. And hey, would Chael Sonnen get the next shot at Anderson Silva (after Vitor Belfort gets his) if he manages to pull off an upset against Marquardt? Good Lord. Thanks a lot, Hendo.

The current lineup for UFC 110 (February 21st; Sydney, Australia) is after the jump...

(Leites smashes Pete Sell at UFC 69. Photo courtesy of miyanville.com.)

According to MMA Junkie, UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Thales Leites have verbally agreed to face each other at an April event (update: IntheGuard.tv says it'll be UFC 97 on 4/18), though bout agreements have not been signed yet. As the story goes, the UFC is hoping to replicate the success of UFC 83 by returning to Montreal for the card, one year after "Serra vs. St. Pierre II."

This of course means that Silva won't be headlining UFC 95 (February 21st, London), and it means that his next match won't be one of those "superfights" that people love so much. Not taking anything away from Thales Leites, who's obviously very talented, but does anybody believe that he's truly the #1 contender in the UFC's middleweight division? Though Leites is on a five-fight win streak — just like Patrick Cote was when he got his title shot — the only big name he's beaten during his current run is Nate Marquardt, and he would have lost that fight if Marquardt didn't have two points deducted for illegal strikes; one judge still scored the fight for Nate.

Now that Dan Henderson is (temporarily?) back at light-heavyweight, I see two guys ahead of Leites in the middleweight title picture...

(Can a WAMMA belt be far behind? Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Though most casual MMA fans had never heard his name until this year, Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) made his presence known in a big way during DREAM's recent middleweight grand prix, cutting through highly regarded fighters Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to win the championship. Now he's widely acknowledged as one of the best middleweights in the world — which is why we were hoping he'd be signed by the UFC to add some extra heat to their 185-pound division, and maybe challenge Anderson Silva for the belt one day. All that shit will have to wait, unfortunately, because it looks like Affliction got to him first. As he told Fighters Only Magazine:

“I’m going to train with Fedor in preparation for Affliction in January. I think it is Fedor against Josh Barnett and they want me to fight Vitor Belfort.”

Mousasi is part of the Red Devil International team and he shares a manager with Fedor in the shape of Vadim Finkelstein...

Affliction has yet to reveal a line-up for its January event but Vitor Belfort has told Brazil’s Tatame magazine that he has been contacted and offered a fight.

If Mousasi continues to perform like he has over the last two years, he should have no trouble whipping Belfort, Matt Lindland, and whoever else Affliction has under contract at 185. And now he's training with Fedor too? Forget about it.

Mousasi's claim that Emelianenko will skip straight to a fight with Barnett in January — foregoing the Arlovski/Barnett eliminator match altogether — is also interesting, but as with all rumors related to Fedor and fight-booking, we'll believe it two weeks after it happens.

(Props: BloodyElbow)

(Arianny's feeling a little outgunned. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

It's at least two fights overdue, but Jason Lambert is finally doing the right thing and dropping to 185 pounds for his next fight, which will take place at UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta) against Jason “Dooms” Day. Though he holds impressive wins against Terry Martin, Matt Horwich, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, and Dan Quinn, "The Punisher" has had it rough lately, suffering three KO/TKO losses in his last four fights; he was most recently outslugged by Luis Arthur Cane at UFC 85 in June. It seems likely that the drop to middleweight was a direct order from the UFC, and if he can't make it happen at the lower weight, he'll probably be kissing his contract goodbye. The situation is nearly as desperate for Day, who needs a solid win to prove himself after getting steamrolled by Michael Bisping, also at UFC 85.

Lambert's interesting physique contributed to my most recent Rule of Fight Prediction: If there's a flabby-looking guy fighting a jacked-looking guy, bet against the chubbo. Had I known this before UFC 85, I wouldn't have thrown down on Lambert and Eddie Sanchez, and maybe I wouldn't have had to spend an evening wearing a plastic tank top. (Note: the No Fatties Rule is often trumped by the Nelson Exception.)

Somewhat Related: DEEP Megaton GP Fight Videos

(Props: BloodyElbow)

It's surprising how similar Anderson Silva's new light-heavyweight build looks compared to his old middleweight frame. In fact, trying to spot the differences between these two pictures is like playing the most boring game of Photo Hunt ever. Sure, his stomach is a little more filled out now and he changed his shorts, but then it gets a little tricky. Does his neck look bigger, or is that just the lighting? Is he retaining water in his ankles?