The year started with Rich Franklin as UFC Middleweight Champion. Franklin successfully defended the title against Canadian David Loiseau in March. In October, Anderson Silva ended Franklin's 16-month reign as king of the middleweight division. Silva will defend his title for the first time on Super Bowl weekend against TUF 4 winner Travis Lutter.
On the premiere episode of Inside the UFC, both UFC President Dana White and host Joe Rogan said they believe Travis Lutter is being severely underrated. They both said they believe Lutter is the perfect fighter to take on Anderson Silva. Rogan, at least, is not just saying this to be a company man by selling the match. He wasn't so excited about TUF 4 welterweight winner Matt Serra's chances against Georges St. Pierre.
Joe Rogan and Dana White's theory is that Travis Lutter's jiu-jitsu will neutralize Anderson Silva's explosive kickboxing. Rich Franklin did say he went into his fight with Silva with the intention of fighting in the standing clinch. This ended up being a huge mistake for Franklin. Lutter will definitely not be making this mistake. If Silva can avoid being taken down, though, Lutter could be in trouble on his feet.
The middleweight division was featured on 2 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter this year. For a fight to count towards a fighter's official winning record, the Nevada State Athletic Commission requires fight results to be made public within 24 hours of an event. Since the TUF matches are taped for television in Nevada, to avoid spoilers being made public record, the TUF matches are technically held as exhibitions. The UFC does include TUF matches in their fighter records, though. The TUF tournaments accounted for 16 of the middleweight matches held in the UFC in 2006.
There have been 17 UFC events so far in 2006, and there have been 46 middleweight matches. Let's take a look back at all of the middleweight matches held in the UFC in 2006, to get a better understanding of who stands where in the division.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 3 (1/16/06)
1 - Chris Leben won by TKO over Jorge Rivera.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 3 (taped Jan/Feb 2006)
2 - Kalib Starnes won by TKO over Mike Stine.
3 - Kendall Grove won by Submission over Ross Pointon.
4 - Rory Singer won by TKO over Solomon Hutcherson.
5 - Ed Herman won by Submission over Danny Abbadi.
6 - Kendall Grove won by Submission over Kalib Starnes.
7 - Ed Herman won by Submission over Rory Singer.
UFC 58: USA VS. CANADA (3/4/06)
8 - Mike Swick won by Submission over Steve Vigneault.
9 - Nathan Marquardt won by Unanimous Decision over Joe Doerksen.
10 - Rich Franklin won by Unanimous Decision over David Loiseau.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 4 (4/6/06)
11 - Chael Sonnen won by Unanimous Decision over Trevor Prangley.
12 - Chris Leben won by Unanimous Decision over Luigi Fioravanti.
UFC 59: REALITY CHECK (4/15/06)
13 - Evan Tanner won by Submission over Justin Levens.
14 - David Terrell won by Submission over Scott Smith.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 4 (taped May/June 2006)
15 - Edwin Dewees won by Unanimous Decision over Gideon Ray.
16 - Travis Lutter won by Submission over Scott Smith.
17 - Pete Sell won by Unanimous Decision over Charles McCarthy.
18 - Patrick Cote won by Unanimous Decision over Jorge Rivera.
19 - Travis Lutter won by Unanimous Decision over Pete Sell.
20 - Patrick Cote won by Unanimous Decision over Edwin Dewees.
UFC 60: HUGHES VS. GRACIE (5/27/06)
21 - Jeremy Horn won by Submission over Chael Sonnen.
22 - Mike Swick win by Submission over Joe Riggs.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 3 FINALE (6/24/06)
23 - Luigi Fioravanti won by KO over Solomon Hutcherson.
24 - Kalib Starnes won by Submission over Danny Abbadi.
25 - Rory Singer won by Submission over Ross Pointon.
26 - Kendall Grove won by Unanimous Decision over Ed Herman {TUF 3 Championship}.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 5 (6/28/06)
27 - Jorge Santiago won by KO over Justin Levens.
28 - Anderson Silva won by KO over Chris Leben.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 6 (8/17/06)
29 - Martin Kampmann won by Submission over Crafton Wallace.
30 - Dean Lister won by Unanimous Decision over Yuki Sasaki.
31 - Chris Leben won by KO over Jorge Santiago.
UFC 62: LIDDELL VS. SOBRAL (8/26/06)
32 - Yushin Okami won by Unanimous Decision over Alan Belcher.
UFC 63: HUGHES VS. PENN (9/23/06)
33 - Mike Swick won by Unanimous Decision over David Loiseau.
UFC ORITIZ VS. SHAMROCK 3 - THE FINAL CHAPTER (10/10/06)
34 - Rory Singer won by Unanimous Decision over Josh Haynes.
35 - Nathan Marquardt win by Submission over Crafton Wallace.
36 - Jason MacDonald won by Submission over Ed Herman.
37 - Kendall Grove won by Submission over Chris Price.
UFC 64: UNSTOPPABLE (10/14/06)
38 - Yushin Okami won by TKO over Kalib Starnes.
39 - Anderson Silva won by TKO over Rich Franklin {Middleweight Championship}.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 4 FINALE (11/11/06)
40 - Martin Kampmann won by Unanimous Decision over Thales Leites.
41 - Charles McCarthy won by Submission over Gideon Ray.
42 - Scott Smith won by KO over Pete Sell.
43 - Jorge Rivera won by TKO over Edwin Dewees.
44 - Travis Lutter won by Submission over Patrick Cote.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 7 (12/13/06) [UPDATED]
45 - Logan Clark won by Unanimous Decision over Steve Byrnes.
46 - Alan Belcher won by KO over Jorge Santiago.
UFC 66: LIDDELL VS. ORTIZ 2 (12/30/06) [UPDATED]
47 - Yushin Okami won by TKO over Rory Singer.
48 - Jason MacDonald won by Submission over Chris Leben.
