Silva the Sniper

It may have took a little longer this time around, but the UFC Middleweight Championship bout was an instant replay of the one that took place just over a year ago.

Silva, once again, dominated Rich Franklin in very impressive fashion. This guy is unbelievable. Silva has left no doubt in my mind that he is the deadliest striker in the UFC. His strikes are as accurate as a shot taken by a sniper and are just as deadly. He connected with pin point accuracy with everything in his arsenal; punches, knees, kicks, spinning backfists, spin kicks, etc...Silva threw everything but the kitchen sink at Franklin and made short work of the former champ.

Franklin fought off the attempted clinch early on and faired OK during the first minute of the match; this due to the fact that Silva's first strike came nearly 55 seconds after the opening bell. Franklin worked his kicks and used a good double jab to keep Silva from teeing off; however, Silva was a lion waiting in the grass to make his move. Silva started throwing some punches and went for the clinch. Franklin fought this off quite well and when the two were battling it out against the cage, Franklin scored a takedown. Silva wasn't on his back long though and soon was back to his feet. Once "The Spider" was up and standing again, he began to unload in spectacular fashion and dropped the former champ at the bell.

Franklin had to be carried to his corner and at this point anyone watching the fight knew that it was only a matter of time. By the look in Franklin's eyes, you could see that he, too, knew he was finished.

He came out firing, though, in the second. This aggressive push didn't last long as Silva once again opened his bag of tricks and unleashed a ferocious barrage of strikes that crumpled Franklin. After a couple of shots to the downed Franklin, Big John stopped the fight and Silva remained the champ.

With such a decisive win, one must ask "Is there anyone out there who can even compete with Silva?" Silva is on a totally different level than any other fighter in the 185 pound class. The UFC's middleweight division has lost its appeal now that it only consists of Silva beating Franklin and Franklin beating everyone else.

There is one other fighter who might give Silva a run for his money and that's Dan Henderson, the PRIDE 185 pound champion. Henderson, however, would rather fight at light heavyweight which doesn't cause me any grief because there are a lot of interesting fights that could potentially take place with Henderson at Light Heavyweight. Although, I would eventually like to see him come down to middleweight for a fight with Silva and another title unification bout.

The second loss to Silva poses Rich Franklin with a huge problem; he can beat anyone in the division other than Silva. So what does a fighter do when he can beat everyone else but can't beat the champ? The only decision I can see Franklin making is to move back up to Light Heavyweight. This division is stacked with talent and there is no shortage of great oppenents for Franklin to fight. Silva is just a terrible style matchup for Franklin and is simply just better than Rich. Although, this move will leave the middleweight division with even less legitimate fighers, I believe that there is nowhere else for Franklin to go.

Silva is also posed with a problem; there is no one who can even be considered a challenge for him. With no threats to his title, he may become a 2-fight-a-year fighter or even worse, 1 fight a year. So until Georges St. Pierre wins the Welterweight title, dominates the division for a few more years and decides to move up to middleweight, Anderson Silva, like Franklin, is in limbo.

As long as no new legitimate contenders come out of the wood work, Anderson Silva will dominate this division for a very long time and will no doubt become bored and begin searching for a decent challenge. In my opinion his only option will also be to move up to Light Heavyweight. This would be the icing on the cake for a division that's already stacked with talent. Could you imagine Anderson Silva vs Chuck Liddell, or Anderson Silva vs Shogun, Silva vs. Alexander, Silva vs. Silva??

This would, however, leave the middleweight division completely empty of elite fighters, but would at least give the rest of the division a shot at a title, and would make for more interesting fights at middleweight.

The result of the main event at UFC 77 has left the middleweight division in disarray and has left the rest of the fighters in the division rethinking their career plans.