2009 MMA Gloves Top Ten Lists
The Middleweight division is usually a pit stop for MMA fighters on their way up or down in weight class. For those that do decide to remain in this weight division as a mixed martial arts fighter they tend to run into the brick wall known as Anderson Silva, the current UFC Middleweight Champion, who holds the record for most consecutive wins in the sport. Many find this division too hard to get a championship and try to up to light heavyweight or drop down to the lower ranks. Unless he receives serious injury, Anderson Silva should still hold top ranking come the end of 2010.
MIDDLEWEIGHT – 185 pounds
1. Anderson Silva
With the longest active winning streak in the UFC, Anderson Silva is the current Middleweight Champion with 10 consecutive wins. Silva has a Black Belt in BBJ, he is another Brazilian MMA Fighter to have descended from the legendary Gracie family school of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu.
Anderson Silva is currently ranked as the top middleweight fighter in the world and trains through Black House with light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. He also has had two fights as a professional boxer.
His 2009 MMA record was 25-4-0.
2. Dan Henderson
As the owner of Clinch Gear, an MMA Apparel company, Dan Henderson has a deep interest in the world of mixed martial arts. As the only mixed martial artist to hold concurrent titles in two different weight classes, Henderson was the last welterweight middleweight champion for the Pride Fighting Championships.
Dan Henderson combines his Olympic wrestling skills with mixed martial arts to make him a formidable grappler and submission specialist in either weight class.
Dan Henderson’s 2009 MMA record is 25-7-0.
3. Jorge Santiago
Jorge Santiago is a Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who trains with American Top Team based in Coconut Creek, Florida. Currently, he is the Sengoku Middleweight Champion and holds notable wins over Jeremy Horn, Trevor Prangley, and Kazuo Misaki. Santiago started his mixed martial arts career at Reality Fighting 2 in 2002 with a win over Jose Rodriguez. Since then, Santago has fought for Absolute Fighting Championships, King of the Cage, and a few other small organizations.
In 2006 he signed with Ultimate Fighting Championships, where he competed three times. He won his UFC debut against Justin Levens by first round KO, but lost his following UFC bouts against Chris Leben and Alan Belcher. After the two lost fights he left the UFC.
Jorge Santiago’s 2009 MMA Record is 21-8-0.
4. Nathan Marquardt
Nathan Joel Marquardt is an American mixed martial artist who is a three-time Middleweight King of Pancrase Champion, and currently fights in the middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Beginning a teenager, he studied the disciplines of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, Wing Chun, and Kenpo under instructor Alistair McNiven. Additionally, he took lessons in wrestling, and eventually began training under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Ricardo Murgel at age 18.
Nathan Marquardt’s 2009 MMA record is 29-8-2.
5. Yushin Okami
Currently ranked by Sherdog as 8th in the world for middleweights, Yushin Okami is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter who has notable wins over Mike Swick, Dean Lister, Nick Thompson, and Evan Tanner, as well as a disqualification victory over Anderson Silva. As an amateur, Okami fought in the pre-Pride 4 tournament, defeating two opponents before submitting Yuuki Tsutsui in the finals via triangle choke to win the tournament. He began his professional career in 2002, fighting in the GMC promotion and Pancrase as well as making an appearance at Pride The Best Vol.3, amassing a professional record of 6-0.
Okami currently fights at middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Yushin Okami’s 2009 MMA record is 23-5-0.
6. Gegard Mousasi
Fighting for Team Jurojin from the Netherlands, Gegard Mousasi is the current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and is considered the 6th ranked light-heavyweight in the world. Gegard is from Dutch-Armenian descent with training as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist.
He began his career as a middleweight fighter but after putting on weight after winning the 2008 Dream Middleweight Grand Prix and plans to move up eventually to the heavyweight division.
His 2009 MMA record is 27-2-1.
7. Vitor Belfort
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Vitor Belfort received his BBJ training from the famous Gracie family, earning his black belt from Carlson Gracie. Belfort is a competent Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has fought both in Japan and the United States andis a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion as well as the last Cage Rage light heavyweight champion.
Vitor Belfort’s 2009 MMA record is 19-8-0.
8. Kazuo Misaki
While 2009 wasn’t the best year for Kazou Misaki after receiving a suspended sentence for felony evasion in Tokyo, Misaki is ranked 7th in the world by MMA weekly for middleweights. Kazou is a Japanese professional mixed martial arts fighter and former judoka. He is the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix winner, and currently fights in Strikeforce while suspended indefinitely from fighting in some of the Japanese tournaments.
Kazuo Misaki’s 2009 MMA record is 22-10-2.
9. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Yoshiro Akiyama is a Japanese mixed martial artist and judoka of Korean decent. In 2001, Akiyami won the gold in Asian Championships and in 2002, the Asian Games for South Korea and Japan respectively. As a mixed martial artist, Yoshiro became the 2006 K-1 HERO’S Light Heavyweight tournament champion and is currently ranked as 8th middleweight in the world by MMA Weekly. He is currently with the US promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship and was victorious in his first UFC bout against Alan Belcher at UFC 100.
Yoshiro Akiyama’s 2009 MMA record is 13-1-0.
10. Jake Shields
Raised in Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California, Jake Shields began wrestling at age nine and has competed in over 650 folk, freestyle and submission wrestling matches. Currently ranked as 7th in the world by Sherdog for middleweights, Sheilds is the former Shooto World Champion, and is the current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. He has trained extensively with Cesar Gracie, and is the captain of the “scrap pack” which includes fellow Cesar Gracie students Dave Terrell, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez.
Jake Shields 2009 MMA record is 24-4-1.
