Silva, the current No. 1 ranked Middleweight and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, has demolished the division, beating the likes of Patrick Cote, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin (twice), Nate Marquardt, Travis Lutter, and Chris Leben. The only truly competitive fight was with Henderson, who Silva beat via rear naked choke submission at 4:52 in round two.

 

As his domination of the Middleweight division strengthened, Silva moved up to Light Heavyweight twice, winning both fights by KO/TKO. Silva demolished James Irvin just one minute into their fight at UFC - Fight Night 14 in July 2008. Most recently, Silva brutally finished scrappy former champion Forrest Griffin, who ran away from the cage due to the embarrassing loss.

 

The big question now is: What does the UFC do with Silva?

 

Silva hopes to finish his contract with the UFC and seek a boxing match with Roy Jones Jr. -- which we'll discuss in the future -- but until then, he has just three fights left on his contract.

 

He doesn't want to fight Marquardt or Henderson immediately, saying the two should fight to determine a No. 1 contender. Henderson, who had Silva on the ground and in danger briefly, said Silva is avoiding a rematch with the MMA legend. Furthermore, Henderson wants a direct shot at Silva, and doesn't want to have to go through Marquardt to earn a championship rematch.

 

The UFC may have time to put together a fight between Henderson and Marquardt, assuming both fighters sign on for it, as Silva recently had elbow surgery and will be on the sidelines until early 2010.

 

If the fight does happen, many MMA fans believe Henderson's superior wrestling and iron chin will make it extremely difficult for Marquardt to win.

 

Silva's last loss was in 2006, when fellow UFC Middleweight Yushin Okami won via disqualification, after Silva used an illegal upkick against Okami. Prior to that, Silva lost in 2004 to Ryo Chonan, who won with a spectacular flying scissor heel hook submission.

 

Assuming Silva gives up his Middleweight title to fight exclusively at Light Heavyweight, the UFC must deal with another problem. Current UFC LHW champion Lyoto Machida is Silva's friend and teammate, and they refuse to fight one another.

 

"There are still some tough fighters at 185," Silva said during an interview with Fighters Only. "I'd go up in class if Lyoto wasn't the titleholder and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira wasn't coming over. But today my problem is in my division where I want to finish my career, and that is what really matters."

 

Even though he may fight at LHW again, Silva, who is out for at least four more months, wants to retire as the UFC MW champion.