In the past, I have been very critical that the UFC's middleweight division needs a kick in the ass. It seems that this statement hasn't been taken seriously by the UFC. The division is currently in a standstill due to the fact that Anderson Silva remains the undisputed middleweight champion and has no possible opponents that can challenge him for the title. Let's take a new look into the Middleweight possibilities or actually, the short list of possibilities.
UFC fails to convince Henderson
According to the UFC 78 Press Conference, it was said that Henderson is still not wanting to drop down to 185 lbs. to fight Anderson Silva. Is this a money issue? Is the UFC lowballing Henderson with a new deal? Fact of the matter is, the Middleweight division is by far one of the worst divisions in the UFC. It, in fact, is the least deep division in the promotion. What reason is there that Henderson wouldn't drop down to become the UFC champion at Middleweight?
The most obvious answer is that he would have to take on an ultra-dangerous Anderson Silva. Although Dan Henderson's Greco-Roman wrestling is a great counter for what Silva has to offer, Silva still possesses a black belt ju-jitsu ground game, a long reach and hard striking standup game, and has multiple tools to end fights. Henderson is a granite chin though. I imagine the fight has the potential to be a huge draw for many UFC fans. Does Henderson see that fight as a possible matchup that could hurt him? It's a possibility, but I think there are other motives.
I mentioned in my previous article that I felt Henderson was sticking to the Light Heavyweight Division because it garners bigger PPV draws, more money, and more prestige. Historically, the heavier weight classes bring bigger fights and draws. Could he simply want to fight through one of the best divisions in the world? I believe so. Henderson wants to fight the absolute best in the world, and the LHW division contains some of the greatest in the world. If he suffers another loss, he may take the money and drop to 185 to fight Silva in a card that I believe would definitely draw some huge numbers.
Unsigned talent goes elsewhere
Jason "Mayhem" Miller was one of the better prospects out there that could have at least made the division a bit more lively. He has some quality wins over Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang and sports an impressive 19-5 record. He has a fantastic submission game and decent standup, but more importantly to the UFC, he is a self-promoting machine. He has a large fanbase of MMA fans behind him who love his antics as seen during a few of the latest UFC events, a few great skit videos featuring Miller that include a spoof of the TapouT! reality show, and he loves to make grand entrances. I have no doubt that he would have gained more fans in the UFC and the extra exposure could have brought more fans into the sport or at least excitement in seeing him fight in the poor Middleweight division. Miller will fight Sean Salmon on the December 15th HDNet card.
Frank Trigg is another decent Middleweight at the end of his career, but nonetheless presents a fairly significant challenge to Anderson Silva because he has some very good wrestling skills. Barring a rear naked choke, Trigg could actually present a big problem for Silva. He has some decent power, but he doesn't have the range to stand with Silva. If Trigg went into the fight with a solid gameplan of putting Silva to the floor and was able to do that, it'd be a very interesting fight. He also presents problems to other fighters in the UFC, but his age is always a factor. This seems to be a case where White is still bitter over comments Trigg made during a few PRIDE broadcasts about the UFC. Trigg claims that he made them in regards to what PRIDE wanted him to say. Nonetheless, I'm still a fan of Frank Trigg for the mere fact that he will tell you exactly what he thinks. As Trigg mentioned in one of his most recent shows, "The UFC made me usable, Fox Sports made me famous, and my mouth made me infamous." Very true, Trigg's battle with Matt Hughes was a great battle, his gig on the PRIDE series put his face in front of millions, and his rants and pre-fight hype he generated made him infamous. For those reasons, Trigg should have been given a chance in the UFC. Trigg is now fighting Edwin Dewees on the December 15th HDNet card.
According to GracieMag.com, Ronaldo Jacare (7-1) didn't sign with the UFC, but has now decided to fight again in Jungle Fight a.k.a. MMA World League now. Why? This baffles me and I'm not sure if the UFC just lowballed him or what, but he will get absolutely no exposure in Jungle Fight and he will fight tomato cans until his name pops up later down the line again after he is sporting a ridiculous record. Kind of like Jason Reinhardt. Jacare is a Brazilian ju-jitsu black belt who placed second in the world at the ADCC championships in his weight class, only losing to Roger Gracie. He's ended every fight inside the first round. It's beyond me as to why he didn't sign with the UFC.
Well, then who the hell did they add?
Evan Tanner will make a new run back into the UFC... heh. One of the big points that people make about Evan Tanner is the fact that he self taught himself many of the techniques he used in the Octagon in his early days. Tanner sports a legendary 32-6 record and has fought nearly everyone. Baroni, Lawler, Terrell, Franklin, Sinosic, Ortiz, Minowa, Herring, Buentello, the list goes on. He hasn't fought since April of last year though. Why you might ask? Apparently Tanner had an excessive drinking problem that caused him to basically turn into a full blown alcoholic who roamed the country, randomly posting on his MySpace about his problems. Hit up Fightlinker for details.
This isn't an overwhelming good signing. Tanner is fairly old and may have a lot of ring rust due to such a long layoff. He also will have to battle through now coming off the alcohol and possibly have a very hard time doing so. Will we see a clean and sober Tanner who could begin another dominance run in the MW division? I doubt it, but people said the same thing about Randy Couture being too old to do much in the heavyweight division.
Existing talent
David Terrell (6-2) was the prospect that many were looking toward to bring some excitement to the division. Terrell never fights. He's basically permanently on the injured reserve list in the UFC because he seems to be the most injury prone athlete that I can remember besides Kerry Wood and Mark Prior of the Chicago Cubs. Terrell is a product of Cesar Gracie Ju-Jitsu Academy. It has produced fighters such as Nick and Nate Diaz and Jake Shields. Terrell is much of the same type of fighter with a great submission game on the ground. He would have presented some significant problems to the top tier of the Middleweight division. I wonder if we will actually ever see him fight in the UFC again.
Nate Marquardt was a fighter that was supposed to give Silva a challenge. He didn't, and I don't see him ever giving him a tough challenge. Okami is gone apparently because the UFC felt he was a boring fighter. Bad move by the UFC. Jason MacDonald can't even get through Franklin. Franklin has been destroyed twice by Silva in devastating fashion.
The Zuffa-owned WEC has Paulo Filho, who is a friend of Silva. Filho did state that he would fight Silva if he had to. I think the time is now that "you have to" pit these two great fighters against each other to help the UFC's MW division. Zuffa seems to want to pit both the organizations against each other. In the latest oddity, the WEC will go up against a UFC special on SpikeTV. WEC 31 has some unbelievable fights, but can it compete on Versus with the UFC on basic cable. The UFC will air a "Best of 2007" show at the same time. Very strange indeed.
Bisping, Evans, Henderson, and even Machida could drop down to Middleweight and make the division worth a damn, but it seems that they are content at sitting at Light Heavyweight for now. Machida has the best chance of making a splash in the LHW division so far since his style is unbelievably elusive, but I feel like he may get the White pinch for being boring. It is rumored that Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou could fight Machida on December 12th. Bisping and Evans winner may fight Tito Ortiz, so both could be locked into the division, or the loser may drop down. Henderson obviously is sticking to his guns and staying at Light Heavyweight. Will the UFC keep him out of fighting until he gets pissed enough to drop? I wouldn't put it past Dana White.
Final Thoughts
So, what can the UFC do since they've already allowed many of the natural middleweights to head to other organizations? Matt Lindland is available. Get over the little argument you have with him and just sign him. He is an opponent with a Greco-Roman background that could potentially counter Silva's strengths well. Matt Hughes has also talked about moving up to middleweight to take on Silva after he wins the Welterweight title. If Hughes can win his title back, look for that fight to happen as well. The most believable development in the division would be the fighters dropping down to the division. The loser of the Bisping vs. Evans fight could definitely make the cut to 185. Henderson is still on the line, but we could eventually see that happen. Machida is now fighting Soukodjou at UFC 79, and he still stands a very good chance at making waves at light heavyweight.
In the end, the UFC doesn't have a plethora of options at all. They will be banking on Hughes to win to increase his standing again. Lindland is still a non-option for Dana White. Henderson won't drop down and many of the other options have signed with other organizations or are existing fighters who are either injured or too far down the line to make an impact within the next year. Hopefully we will see some activity from the UFC into grabbing some talent out there. The upcoming TUF season will also feature Middleweights, so we could see a huge influx of talent.