Your list of 185 pound title contenders

[Mik 0]

Straight out of Sleazy D's mouth.

 

Okami not mentioned at all.

 

Among the names he tossed around in a post-UFC 77 press conference was Thales Leites (12-1), a submission specialist with four straight victories in the UFC. He also mentioned recent UFC signee Ricardo Almeida (8-2) and the talented, though oft-injured, David Terrell (6-2).

 

The most impressive of the bunch, though, is Dan Henderson, a two-time Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler.

 

However, White would first need Henderson to agree to a contract extension — not to mention an equally difficult task of convincing the fighter to drop from the 205-pound division to 185 pounds.

 

"I want to head BUTT the guy every time I talk to him," said White. "He could be a force at (185), and it'd be a great match-up (with Silva). But he's very hard-headed."

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/o...2207inside.html

 

I figured this warranted it's own thread but if you all disagree feel free to merge into CTDWAT.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Okami is at the end of his contract, and methinks he won't get an extension. Though he should, considering he main evented a PPV not to long ago and is a legit contender.

[starvenger 0]

Silva-Leben II, for the comedic value of seeing Chris get beaten to a pulp again.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I don't need to see Leben run face first into a bunch of punches again

[Insanity 0]

I would've liked to see Terry Martin in the chase. I know his 'strategy' would be to try and slam him as hard as possible.

[BigPoppaKev 0]

To me Hend is obviously the best choice but all signs point to him staying at 205. There has been some rumors of Matt Hughes moving up to 185 but IMO he would get destroyed by Silva. Another options would be Paulo Filho out of WEC which is also owned by Zuffa. Filho is undefeated with a record of 15-0 and has some impressive wins over Chonan (who beat Silva), Ninja Rua, 'Mach' Sakurai. So if Filho could stack up another win or two in WEC who knows he might be in line to face Silva at some point.

[starvenger 0]

I don't need to see Leben run face first into a bunch of punches again

Oh c'mon, that never gets boring...

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

To me Hend is obviously the best choice but all signs point to him staying at 205. There has been some rumors of Matt Hughes moving up to 185 but IMO he would get destroyed by Silva. Another options would be Paulo Filho out of WEC which is also owned by Zuffa. Filho is undefeated with a record of 15-0 and has some impressive wins over Chonan (who beat Silva), Ninja Rua, 'Mach' Sakurai. So if Filho could stack up another win or two in WEC who knows he might be in line to face Silva at some point.

 

Part of the reason Filho is in the WEC, because he didn't want to fight Anderson Silva, because they are great friends.

[Youth N Asia 0]

it's not even that the 185 division is that bad, it's just that the guy on the top looks completely unbeatable right now

[Lord of The Curry 0]

No, it's pretty bad too. The gap between Anderson, the #1 contender (whomever that may be) and the rest of the division is huge. Okami for all purposes should get the shot but the fact that Dana didn't mention his name is not a good sign. After that it's a huge drop-off. The problem here is that within the division you'll still have guys around like Marquardt and Franklin who, while not being good enough to take the title from the champ are certainly good enough to beat the rest of the division.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

What sucks even more is that the 2 fighters who posses the biggest chance to defeat Anderson(Lindland and Filho) don't fight with the UFC(Although even if Filho was in the UFC, doubt the fight would happen as I already mentioned). Too bad Lindland bitched out of the original fight with Anderson back in the beginning of 06, to fight Mike Van Arsdale instead, that is a match up I am interested to see.

 

Henderson stands a very good chance as well, but he doesn't want to cut to 185 for some reason.

[Lei Tong 0]

Am I the only person here who thinks Anderson would simply jab Dan's face off in between slight intervals on the mat?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Am I the only person here who thinks Anderson would simply jab Dan's face off in between slight intervals on the mat?

 

I think Anderson would beat Henderson but he would have more problems with him then Lutter, Franklin or anyone he's faced since joining the UFC. Only if Henderson comes in with the right gameplan.

 

There isn't any doubt in my mind Henderson could take Anderson down, but can he hold him there is the question. Either way, I see it with Henderson starting out strong, and then Anderson starts to pick him apart.

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Add Denis Kang to that list of top middleweights that could possess a challenge that are not under contract with UFC. On top of that, even if you do bring in a guy like Filho (won't happen) or Kang, you still need to build them up to sell the fight. You could potentially insert Lindland into that spot right away. Maybe Filho (but again, won't happen anyway).

 

I wouldn't mind seeing BJ move up and wouldn't count him out. BJ is a freak and could probably hang with anyone. I don't think I've ever seen anyone beat Penn (only Penn beat himself).

 

Hughes could move up, only for the mere fact that I would love to see him get reconstructive surgery courtesy of Silva. Fitch is another big, strong welterweight but it wouldn't do him much good to move up either.