Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva (25-4)
Despite Vitor Belfort bowing out to injury, Silva’s April 10 title defense in the United Arab Emirates will still come against a fellow Brazilian. At UFC 112, Silva will stake his middleweight mantle and pound-for-pound supremacy against Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia. One can only hope the bout plays out more interestingly than when Silva fought a grappling ace last April.

2. Dan Henderson (25-7)
Henderson was MMA’s highest-profile free agent, if only for a moment. Now, he has become one of the major drawing cards for Strikeforce. He will make his promotional debut on CBS in a middleweight title fight against defending champion Jake Shields on April 17.

3. Chael Sonnen (24-10-1)
A consistent underdog against all the elite middleweight opposition he faced, Sonnen has continued to excel, knocking off Paulo Filho, Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt. Sonnen’s upset triumph over Marquardt has likely earned him the next crack at the UFC middleweight title, once Anderson Silva and Demian Maia square off in April.

4. Nate Marquardt (29-9-2)
Marquardt’s UFC 109 bout with Chael Sonnen was supposed to serve as a perfunctory setup for another UFC middleweight title shot. Instead, Sonnen’s takedowns were far too much for Marquardt, who dropped a unanimous decision and will have to wait for a second crack at the UFC 185-pound crown.

5. Demian Maia (12-1)
Vitor Belfort’s loss is the Maia’s gain. When Belfort was forced out of his scheduled bout with Anderson Silva at UFC 112, there was a paucity of options to take his place. Coming off his February win over former International Fight League champion Dan Miller, Maia will now step in to face his fellow Brazilian and challenge for the UFC’s middleweight crown on April 10.

6. Vitor Belfort (19-8)
Belfort was scheduled to get the next crack at pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva’s middleweight throne. However, a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery has bumped “The Phenom” out of a title shot in an intensifying 185-pound division, with no guarantees he will get another chance to face Silva.

7. Jake Shields (24-4-1)
On Strikeforce’s first CBS venture in October, Shields earned the promotion’s middleweight crown with a five-round decision win over Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Strikeforce’s second live network effort on April 17 will see the Cesar Gracie product enter his first title defense as an underdog, as he takes on Pride and UFC veteran Dan Henderson.

8. Yushin Okami (24-5)
Okami was expected to beat Lucio Linhares in their March 31 affair. However, he took the extra step normally absent in his bouts and really put on a show, bashing Linhares’ face to force a second-round stoppage and offering a more enjoyable fight to the lay fan.

9. Jorge Santiago (22-8)
Santiago was one of MMA’s hottest fighters heading into November, when he was embarrassed in his non-title bout with Mamed Khalidov. However, Santiago put on a champion’s performance in the rematch, winning a well-appointed unanimous decision over five rounds to avenge his humbling defeat to the Chechen.

10. Mamed Khalidov (20-4-1)
After whacking Jorge Santiago in their non-title affair in November, many expected the native Chechen to walk away with Sengoku’s middleweight crown on March 7. Instead, Santiago used his grappling ability to ground and outlast Khalidov, as he retained his title.

Other contenders: Yoshihiro Akiyama, Michael Bisping, Paulo Filho, Robbie Lawler, Wanderlei Silva.