Drawing scorn for his lackluster April title defense against Thales Leites, Silva was clearly in need of an interesting challenge. Now Silva -- who has taken out elite welterweights and middleweights in his career -- will have the chance to put away an elite light heavyweight at UFC 101 on Aug. 8 when he meets former 205-pound king Forrest Griffin.
2. Yushin Okami (23-4)
Okami tweaked his knee in preparing for a May bout with Dan Miller but will still get a chance to face strong middleweight opposition in his next outing. Japan’s top 185-pounder will likely meet former UFC title challenger Patrick Cote at UFC 103 in September.
3. Nate Marquardt (28-8-2)
Marquardt wants to rematch divisional ace Anderson Silva, who iced him in July 2007. In order to get another chance at “The Spider” and the UFC middleweight title, Marquardt will need to take out his biggest challenge since his bout with Silva -- undefeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu king Demian Maia at UFC 102 on Aug. 29.
4. Dan Henderson (24-7)
It was not without a bit of a brouhaha, but Henderson earned a split decision over Rich Franklin at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland, on Jan. 17. Now, the former two-division Pride Fighting Championships titleholder has earned a lengthy promotional vehicle coaching against Michael Bisping on the ninth season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The season’s larger payoff will be a marquee bout against Bisping at UFC 100 in July.
5. Demian Maia (10-0)
Few fighters, if any, have been as impressive as Maia over the last 14 months. His road to a shot at the UFC middleweight title now runs through Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 on Aug. 29.
6. Jorge Santiago (21-7)
Santiago will meet either Kazuo Misaki or Kazuhiro Nakamura in the first defense of his Sengoku middleweight title later this year. However, Santiago has a tall task before then, as he will meet fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort on Aug. 1 at Affliction “Trilogy.”
7. Thales Leites (14-2)
No doubt wanting to erase the memories of his April title challenge against Anderson Silva, Leites has quickly accepted a bout with Italian striker Alessio Sakara at UFC 101 on Aug. 8.
8. Robbie Lawler (16-5, 1 NC)
Lawler appeared to be in control on the feet in his June 6 bout with Jake Shields. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was tapping out to a Shields guillotine choke, leaving his next move in Strikeforce’s middleweight division uncertain.
9. Vitor Belfort (18-8)
A fight with rising star Gegard Mousasi did not pan out for Belfort, but “The Phenom” will get another top 10 middleweight at Affliction “Trilogy,” where he will meet up with his Brazilian countryman, Jorge Santiago, on Aug. 1.
10. Chael Sonnen (23-10-1)
You’d be hard-pressed to find too many people who think of Sonnen as an elite middleweight. Fortunately for the Team Quest product, results are what count. He put on a dominant display against top 15 opposition in Dan Miller at UFC 98.
Other contenders: Yoshihiro Akiyama, Michael Bisping, Patrick Cote, Dan Miller, Frank Trigg.