[MikeyPatriot]

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Middleweight right now is the total opposite of 205. At 205, you have a bunch of guys trying to establish themselves to get a shot at Rampage (Griffin, Jardine, Evans, Bisbing, Liddell, Silva, etc) At Middleweight there is such a huge gap between #1 and #2 that I don't know what the answer is. Rich Franklin could have a gatekeeper role I guess, and Okami is pretty 'meh' (at least when compared to Silva) There's talk of Frank Trigg moving up to MW since he can't seem to crack the Hughes/GSP grip on welter. It seems the only thing I can hope for is for Dan Henderson to drop down to 185. Otherwise the division is going to be bereft of compelling matchups for some time to come.

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The middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions are polar opposites in the UFC. There are plenty of potential challengers for Anderson Silva, that Zuffa doesn't want for whatever reason.

I don't think Okami poses too difficult a challenge for Anderson Silva, but he's clearly the next logical #1 contender in-house (or formerly since he's gone now). I don't understand how you can say he is "meh" (unless you are referring to his style). He's 5-1 in the UFC with a close decision lose to Rich Franklin and 21-4 lifetime. That's a very solid fighter.

Actually, Dan Henderson is the obvious best fight for A. Silva in-house, but he's resisted moving down to 185 (though there are rumors that he might change his mind).

Other guys that could challenge Anderson Silva: Matt Lindland, Paulo Filho, Denis Kang, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Frank Shamrock, Robbie Lawler, Jason Miller.

Lindland and Filho are guys they could bring in RIGHT NOW if they wanted to. Lindland doesn't have an exclusive deal with anyone and Filho is the champ in the WEC.

Other guys on that list could have been had after the Pride acquisition or could be had if they loosen their restrictions about contracts they give to guys who get title shots.

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While I'm here I'll make this prediction: If Brock Lesnar wins impressively against Frank Mir, look for a showdown with Tim Silvia for a shot at the heavyweight title.

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Uh...Sylvia doesn't hold the belt? The rumors (and the only fight that make sense at the moment) are Nogueira/Sylvia at that same show as Lesnar/Mir. There's no way they'd let the belt (or an interim title if they are hard-headed about Randy potentially coming back) be up in limbo for that long by giving Lesnar a shot after Mir.

If Lesnar gets past Mir, no matter how impressively, I'd be pretty upset about him getting a title shot. Assuming Big Nog/Sylvia happens, Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo, and Andrei Arlovski (another guy being [censored] in the butt because of UFC's idiocy with contracts) are all more deserving.