UA-59049186-1 The Landscape of the UFC Middleweight Division - Good if it Goes
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The Landscape of the UFC Middleweight Division

It’s been nearly three weeks since Michael Bisping shocked the world by knocking out former champion Luke Rockhold on only 2 weeks notice, and realized his dream of becoming England’s first ever UFC Champion. Since then, many fighters have stated their claim for the right to vie for the Middleweight title. Everyone from former champions to current top 5 ranked middleweights have all clamored at the chance to dethrone the brash, loudmouth Brit from his throne. But the questions still remain of who deserves the next middleweight title shot and who will receive the next shot.

The popular choice from the fans and the champion himself, is Bisping’s former UFC 100 foe Dan Henderson. As a hardcore MMA fan, I don’t necessarily agree with this choice, as I feel Dan Henderson hasn’t earned the right to fight for the title. But, I also cannot deny that a rematch between Henderson and Bisping would draw huge numbers and is easily marketable. Bisping himself is campaigning for this rematch because he wants to avenge his previous loss to Henderson and I can’t really blame him. Bisping was knocked out in brutal fashion back at UFC 100, in July of 2009, after fighting a very stupid fight. Bisping decided to leave his hands down and circle to the right constantly, which of course happens to be Dan Henderson’s power hand. It was a very puzzling game plan, especially against a fighter with as many knock outs with his right hand as Dan Henderson has and Bisping paid for it dearly. Bisping was at the receiving end of a highlight reel knockout which is still talked about by fans today. You know for someone as competitive as Michael Bisping is, this loss is still eating him alive today and he wants the chance to right the ship this time around. I definitely see this fight as a possibility to happen next, as it’s the biggest money fight in the division, but the only problem that remains is Dan Henderson’s contract situation. Henderson just finished off his UFC contract with his appearance at UFC 99, but this is a problem that can be easily remedied. While I believe Henderson retiring after his massive comeback win over Hector Lombard would be the best decision, he definitely will hold off retirement to cash in on one last title fight and attempt to shut Michael Bisping up for good.

Another surprise fighter who put his name in the hat for a crack at Michael Bisping’s championship is the former Welterweight Champion, and arguably the greatest Mixed Martial Arts fighter of all time, Georges St-Pierre. During the MMA Hour with Ariel Hewlani, GSP cleared the air of rumors and stated that he is planning on making his return to the octagon. His choice of his first fight back? Michael Bisping. I don’t believe GSP should be allowed to cut in front of the line and get an immediate title shot ,but as one of the biggest box office MMA fighters and someone who has accomplished as much as he has, he certainly has the ear of the top UFC brass. I find this whole scenario of GSP challenging for the Middleweight title very funny. When GSP was at the peak of his career, he would always shoot down rumors of challenging Anderson Silva in a superfight for the middleweight championship, stating that Anderson was a much larger fighter. Michael Bisping, though, certainly isn’t a small fighter and GSP will not have a size advantage over him, so it makes me question why he avoided the fight with Anderson Silva the fans wanted to see for years. The fight which would’ve made him boatloads of money. Why return now to the UFC after 3 years and jump in the front of the line at a division he’s never competed in and receive an immediate title shot? I understand that he’s a superstar but the UFC has to draw a line here. If GSP deserves an immediate title shot, it will be at the division he once ruled, Welterweight. There, this decision would make more sense, but I have a sneaky feeling that GSP doesn’t want to fight current Welterweight Champion, Robbie Lawler, who is a bad stylistic match up for him. I really don’t see this fight taking place, nor the UFC offering it to GSP as there are too many questions surrounding it.

My personal choice for the next challenger for the middleweight title? Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Since arriving to the UFC after their merging with Strikeforce, Jacare has been nothing short of impressive. His only loss in the UFC was against fellow top contender ,Yoel Romero, which was a fight ridden with controversy. Most people(myself included) thought Jacare should have gotten the decision and on top of that, after the fight Yoel Romero test positive for a doping violation from an out of competition test for ibutamoren. With all that said, that fight shouldn’t hinder Jacare’s chances and especially not after possibly the biggest win of his career, where he completely dominated the legendary Vitor Belfort. There is no fighter more deserving to challenge Bisping for the title and Jacare is not only the best BJJ practitioner in MMA, but is in the discussion as the greatest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor of all time, with his parallel accomplishments in the martial art. What hurts Jacare and could possible screw him over of his deserved title shot is his lack of marketability. Jacare, although a previous headliner, and feature on big cards before, is still relatively unknown by casual fans. As a regular MMA watcher, there is no one I want to see challenge for the belt more than Jacare, but his name doesn’t get the needle moving or generate the casual interest like I believe it should. A Bisping/Henderson rematch does get the needle moving and is a fight you can easily promote for PPV, whereas Bisping/Jacare would likely be a co-main event with how UFC are doing cards right now. This is similar to what happened to Jon Fitch in the late 00’s, who went 8-0 in the organization before receiving a title shot because of circumstances.

As for the rest of the division, I expect former champions Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman to finally rematch (originally suppose to rematch at UFC 199 but of course Weidman pulled out because of neck injury) in the first New York UFC card in November. Yoel Romero should be coming off suspension before years end and should be matched up with a top 10 level fighter, possibly a showdown with the rising Robert Whittaker, as Yoel wants to get his name back into title contention. Another fight under the radar right now at middleweight will take place at the stacked UFC 200 event. Derek Brunson, who has been making a lot of noise in the division, will face off against Gegard Mousasi, who has had a pretty underwhelming UFC run so far but hopes to turn things around and get back into title contention. And then of course we have the greatest Middleweight champion of all time, Anderson Silva, who is itching to fight again. Previously, Anderson was forced to pull out of his UFC 198 fight with #10 ranked middleweight Uriah Hall but I still expect that fight to take place possibly in the summer or fall.

Regardless of how you look at it, the Middleweight division is certainly filled with many intriguing scenarios, especially with how Michael Bisping shook things up earlier this month. It’s going to be interesting to see how things transpire for the rest of the year in the division, with stars on the rise, former champions trying to reclaim their gold, and legendary fighters trying to get one last run at the championship. No matter what, I expect nothing but excitement from the division for the foreseeable future, so stay tuned.

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