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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Michael Bisping's loss to Vitor Belfort on Saturday night at UFC on FX 7 threw the UFC's plans for the middleweight division into upheaval. Bisping was the front-runner for a title fight with Chris Weidman injured and both Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher losing fights in December, and all he had to do was get past Belfort.
Then he got kicked in the head.
Belfort's win puts into question once again just who should - and who will - fight Anderson Silva next, and there isn't any easy answer. Here are what I think are the five most likely possibilities, and why they will or won't get the shot.
Rashad Evans: Yes, he's a light heavyweight, and hasn't fought in the middleweight division. However, he's expressed interest in dropping down if offered a fight with Anderson Silva. He's got a fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on Feb. 2 at UFC 156, and if he wins that fight, it just might be the perfect time for him to drop down to fight Silva. After all, Silva's expressed very little interest in a fight against the other names which will be brought up here, and as a former Champion and pay-per-view draw, Evans would make an attractive option for "The Spider" and his camp. It would also be a great stylistic matchup, with Evans' wrestling game and striking skills going against Silva's incredible and diverse striking attack. With Bisping's loss taking him out of the picture, Evans is the front-runner right now.
Chris Weidman: After destroying Mark Munoz last summer, Weidman felt he should have been booked against Silva in the fall. Unfortunately, that win came on Fuel TV in front of a very small segment of UFC viewers. Though he's made a name for himself amongst a small segment of fans, and has shown his worth from a skill-set level, his lack of name value hurts his chances because Silva and his camp haven't been interested in him yet. He may still need to take a fight upon his return before getting put in that fight, yet he may be coming back from injury at the right time to be booked against Silva if they need an opponent. He's not the likely option, but he might be the most qualified right now.
Luke Rockhold: The Strikeforce Middleweight Champion is brought into the discussion more out of precedent and a lack of options than anything. With Gilbert Melendez getting an immediate UFC Title fight against Ben Henderson in April, Rockhold might be a possibility the UFC would consider. His resume isn't up to the others on the list, but the "Champion vs. Champion" angle works in his favor. I don't think that's the route the UFC will take, because Rockhold's still not a massively known name, either. But with several others dropping out of "the mix" with their recent losses, his stock definitely rises.
Vitor Belfort: UFC President Dana White has already technically said Belfort needs another fight or two before getting Anderson a second time, but he's still a possibility for a couple of reasons. First, he's a star in Brazil, and if the UFC wanted to put on a stadium show in June, Silva-Belfort II could be huge from a business perspective. Secondly, the lack of options once again comes into play. Belfort took out the man who was poised to step in against Silva, and did so in dominant fashion. He's a bigger name than Weidman, he's a bigger name than Rockhold, and if Evans were to lose to Nogueira, I think the UFC would have to entertain the idea of putting him in against Silva a second time.
Hector Lombard: The former Bellator Middleweight Champion would be a much more attractive option for the UFC if he hadn't laid an egg against Tim Boetsch in his UFC debut. That fight - and the split decision loss - severely set him back, though he mitigated some of the setback from that performance with his destruction of Rousimar Palhares. If he can follow that up with a decisive win over Yushin Okami in Japan this March, the lack of any clear options may put him in line.
That's the theme in this division right now. The fact that there's no clear option to fight Silva means there are a lot of unattractive options instead. None of these fights will make everyone happy about the decision the UFC ultimately makes, and Silva himself probably isn't too keen on them, either.
Evans is the front-runner, I believe, and a win over Nogueira in Las Vegas just may lead to an offer to fight Silva come July. That's the most attractive fight for Silva, more than likely, and if he can make the weight, it's the fight he's wanted for a while as well. Should he lose, Belfort has to be an option, though that is more business than anything from a competitive standpoint. After that, Weidman's the most deserving based on what he's done in the cage, while Rockhold and Lombard are outliers based on their "former Champion" titles.
It's a murky picture, to be sure, and Bisping's loss means the division can't necessarily sort itself out as it might have otherwise. Whomever gets the next fight against Silva may not be the most qualified option, but with Bisping out of the picture, there may not be a most qualified option.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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