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FightOpinion.com Top 25 Middleweights
By jasonadams | March 7, 2006
By Jason Adams
Keep in mind this voting was done prior to the recent PRIDE and UFC but here are the top 25 as voted by several FightOpinion writers:
Middleweight (185lbs.)
1.Dan Henderson
2.Rich Franklin
3.Murilo Bustamante
4.David Loiseau
5.Matt Lindland
6.Evan Tanner
7.Nathan Marquardt
8.Anderson Silva
9.Jeremy Horn
10.Ikuhisa Minowa
11.Ivan Salaverry
12.David Terrell
13.Joe Doerksen
14.Ryo Chonan
15.Chris Leben
16.Paulo Filho
17.Joey Villasenor
18.Mike Swick
19.Nate Quarry
20.Phil Baroni
21.Thales Leite
22.Gustavo Machado
23.Travis Lutter
24.Akihiro Gono
25.Amar Suloev
Topics: All Topics, Jason Adams, MMA | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Well, without saying, Loiseau is moving down. Lindland should move up, even ahead of Bustamante in my opinion. David Terrell is where he should be, but I anticipate a big year from him.
So Quarry is better than Baroni? The list would be better if you stop at 15, and even then Baroni should be in.
Franklin, at this point, is better than Decision Dan. Dan’s got all the tools, but I would like to see some more notable wins with him as champion in DSE.
Bustamante, as talented as he was/is, is not in the top 5 at this point. He did manage to really stretch Henderson to the limit on New Year’s Eve, however.
Matt Lindland should be #3 at this point without many questions. For all the talk of him being boring, the guy does finish every 2 out of 3 fights he is in.
Evan Tanner is a mystery. He could be really good. He’s barely in the Top 10, IMO.
Nathan Marquardt is another mystery. In Pancrase, he either got wins late or he would always get decisions. No different in UFC. He simply lacks finishing power right now, and unless something changes I don’t see any improvement for him.
Chris Leben is slowly but surely climbing the latter, which is good.
Phil Baroni and Paulo Filho both deserve more respect than they are getting. Baroni especially, since he did beat both Chonan and Minowa in the first two DSE fights.
Overall, one of the most difficult things about these kinds of lists is that DSE and UFC do not share the same numbers in terms of weight classes, so you have to struggle to figure out which guys fit in which categories, and it makes the list-making process too difficult.
BL is 100% right – as I suggest in the Heavyweight list, Top 12 or Top 15 can be managed. Anything more and it’s a leap of faith that can discredit the credibility of a list.
dan henderson has went toe to toe with wanderlei silva and given wanderlei the toughest match of his life…Dan has some great wins and would have little trouble beating a guy like franklin in a cage. Dan has greatly improved his stand-up and showed that a good wrestler can use his base of power in the legs and back to generate a great punching style.
Franklin on the other hand does not have the same calibre of opponents on his career record as henderson or bustemante in my opinion. Franklin’s only real impressive wins were against two opponents that really didn’t push him. With the rumors of the crow taking the fight with a broken ribs and evan tanner unable to cultivate the skills to beat franklins style. This leaves franklin with a rather shallow career especially when compared to a guy like henderson.
busta’s fight with hendo has been the best anyone at 185 has been able to do against hendo and that in my mind shows why busta deserves the number 2 spot.
however i must add that Busta’s match with minowa should be a No Contest becuz he clearly kicked minowa in teh back of teh head to finish the fight. That shit should not be rewarded.
this list started out pretty good but there are some serious points of contention…
9.Jeremy Horn
24.Akihiro Gono
25.Amar Suloev
there is no way that suloev and gono should be that low in my opinion and jeremy horn should not be ranked that high..
15.Chris Leben
16.Paulo Filho
first of all ranking chris leben ahead of paulo filho is ridiculous, paulo is insanely talented and should be in the top 10 without a doubt and should at least be number 7, and this is coming from a guy who can’t stand paulo filho
phil baroni also deserves alittle bit higher rank even tho he is shame to the sport.
the biggest mistake on this list is obviously anderson silva’s rank on the list
Anderson silva is without a doubt in the top 5
and what about denis kang, and andrei semenov, surly they could get on the top 25 over guys like swick and quarry who are relativly unproven..and with the addition of ninja to the division he is most likely bound to be given a top 10 spot after he beats PAULO and then takes the title from DAN…