I think it’s a little soon to be saying that Silva is #1 in the world. He’s lost 4 times. He has been beaten. He doesn’t fare as well when the fighters do play into his game plan

Rich Franklin is a lot like Chuck Liddell a good sriker who knows how to keep a fight standing this was a great response to the era when ground and pound was dominant, he took grapplers out of their element and hammered them, but against somebody who prefers to stand he is not really dominant. Yes he is physically stronger than hughes overall but maybe not in the core area and far more importantly:

HE IS NOT A WRESTLER. ALL DOMINANT CLINCH/GROUND AND POUND PEOPLE IN UFC HAVE A DEEP WRESTLING BACKGROUND, not just big biceps, my friends. Knowing how to keep those dominant top positions is basically what wrestling is about. Look at Couture I mean is that what you saw in the Belfort and Gonzaga fights? This muscleman overrpowering his opponents and forcing them to the ground with brute strength? I saw a guy outweighed and far older immobilizing his opponent backing them into corners and using superior leverage to achieve takedowns then further utilising brains and wrestling skills to keep his opponent down sapp their energy and pound them. Hughes is 2 time all-America Franklin has no wrestling pedigree at all. Perhaps more relevant I would agree with posters who pointed out that Lutter achieved side control several times even though the guy was flabby and gassed after one round. That alone tells me that Silva’s takedown D is not top tier. Hughes is obviously a lot better on the ground than Travis. Anyways Silva is probably the best stand-up guy pound for pound in MMA, but overall it is hard to rank him ahead of Rampage who just took out Chuck and Hendo in consecutive fights those guys were both far better (proven against tough competition) than Franklin (whose most impressive victim is probably Tanner) and matched up better with Quentin. Hughes is old and not likable but it would be an interesting fight.

Here’s my fearless prediction (based on my humbling over the past year–some might call it humiliation!) for this weight-class: by this time next year, there will be a completely new heirarchy of fighters. Hardly anyone from the top 5 in the UFC will still be in the top 5. BAM!!!

Now that’s prognostication!

For the record, the ratings from Sherdog for middleweight as of today are:
1. Anderson Silva
2. Paulo Filho (why is he rated above Dan Henderson?)
3. Dan Henderson (not fighting in this weight class today but is Pride Middleweight champ)
4. Rich Franklin (interestingly enough has fought only one of the top five in this weight class)
5. Matt Lindland (recently fought Fedor–boy’s got some Cojones!)

not until he beat Fedor[/quote]

Does anyone else feel that Fedor has tarnished his own jeno se qua by not signing with UFC to fight Randy? I personally lost a bit of faith in Fedor after that. I realize business is business but besides the money, the fight is the business. There really is not much of a HW talent pool outside of the UFC.[/quote]

But did you notice that Fedor’s new contract allows him to fight in any promotion he chooses provided the 2 companies can reach an agreement? Also, theres a clause in his new contract that states that M-1 must pay the UFC champ an additional 1million on top of whatever their UFC contrac pay would be for that fight. I think that contract kills any speculation about Fedor being afraid to fight Randy or anyone else for that matter.

I’ll take it one step further & say Chuck has a great “sprawl” but only average take down defense.

GSP vs Hughes II is a prime example. Regardless of whether you believe that Hughes never went for a takedown or you believe that after GSP stuffed Hughes on true takedown attempt, the point is that without the takedowns which lead to the GnP, Hughes is incapable of finishing a fight any other way.

Hughes would get owned, maybe 5 fights ago…and Anderson 5 fights ago this match up would have been more of a competition, Hughes would be better and Anderson worse. But lets all step back into realty here. Anderson DISMANTLED Rich back to back, and stopped Lutter and Marquardt in similar fashion. Hughes is no better then Marquardt in my opinion, w/ similar skill sets (feel free to challenge). Nate’s got youth, speed and likley more power then Hughes and the spider just took over like he was late for dinner and needed to bounce early.

The answer lies beyond the current UFC roster, unless Hendo gives in and cuts the weight.

Anybody tell me if Lyoto Machida could get to 185 and fight Silva? I think his style might make it intersting with Anderson’s attack, i think Lyoto would do a lot of great counter striking AND MAYBE COULD POSSIBLY catch Silva.

BZ[/quote]

Styles make fights & Machida has the perfect style to maybe not necessarily win but at least give Silva some real trouble.

Hughes on the other hand only has 1 tool at his disposal & if Silva can nullify that tool he can win by sub, KO or GnP. My motto is “rock, paper, scissors”.

I don’t know if Hughes could win. But I wouldnt bet against him. Franklin is larger but possiby not stronger. Effective strength is what matters not how much you can lift. Frankline could most likely bench way more and squat way more etc. But the effective strength is clearly different. They Said Anderson had to cut 5 pounds to make weight on the PPV telecast. Hughes walks around at 190. They are about the same size. Watch how Ryo Chonan dealt with Anderson’s knees. That is the same thing Hughes will do. I also dont understand why people think Anderson could just stand up when Hughes takes him down. I have never seen anyone just get up when Hughes took them down. I think Hughes Silva would be a very good fight.[/quote]

We’re not talking about 2 random citizens who differ in size & work out at the same gym here. Again…..2 world class athletes…Franklin is roughly 25-lbs heavier & you’re telling me that he’s not overall stronger than Hughes?