Joe Ferraro

Chael Sonnen.

It wasn't long ago when UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson "The Spider" Silva appeared so dominant, that the rest of the division appeared second rate.

It got to the point where MMA pundits were adamant that it lacked depth; my how times have changed.

With Chael Sonnen's dominant performance at UFC 117, the superhuman "Spider" has now been downgraded to a mere mortal, as his trash talking American foe was able to back up nearly 99% of his pre-fight hype.

Should he have accomplished what the vast majority in the MMA blogosphere labeled as "impossible" he would have truly turned the MMA world upside down.

Mind you, if we pay close attention to the other contenders in the division, we will clearly see that it has vastly grown with talent.

The recent news that Silva will be sidelined until February or March of next year, means Sonnen would have to either wait six or seven months for a rematch. Or perhaps take on "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort, who was originally granted a title shot by the organization, until suffering an unfortunate shoulder injury that will sideline him until the Fall of this year.

This bout, between the explosive Belfort and the grinding Sonnen would make for another exceptional scrap. Like it or not, Sonnen will likely talk the pay-per-view buy rate into the stratosphere once again.

The trending for this past weekend's UFC 117 event is climbing to over a million and let's face it - the UFC has Chael Sonnen to thank for it.

As these top contenders negotiate behind the scenes to determine who will face whom next. A quick look at my personal rankings for the middleweight division, coupled with the existing match ups that have already been signed, gives us a glimpse of which fighters can position themselves across the octagon from the champ.

First off, three fighters on my list that will be removed from this equation are Jake Shields (#3), who is now competing as a welterweight, as well as Dan Henderson (#5) and Robbie Lawler (#9), who both call the Strikeforce organization home.

Nate Marquardt (#4) is set to take on leg destroyer, Rousimar Palhares, as part of the main event for UFC Fight Night 22 on September 15th. To maintain his top tier ranking, Marquardt must win this fight, as a loss would be detrimental to his career while increasing the stock value of his Brazilian opponent.

Then there's Demian Maia (#6), another Brazilian submission specialist who will be taking on Mario Miranda at UFC 118. Miranda, a wrestler who enjoys standing and banging while punishing his opponents on the ground, was brought in to Anderson Silva's training camp to prepare "The Spider" for Sonnen.

Maia must win this fight, or he may pave the way for a huge leap up the rankings for Miranda, while pulling the rug out from underneath his own career.

Moving down the list, we see Yushin Okami (#8) who is waiting to take on a top level opponent, after defeating Mark Munoz at UFC Live Two.

As well there is Alan Belcher (#10) who is unfortunately dealing with a detached retina in his right eye, a terrible injury that may cost him his career.

Outside of my top ten, are fighters who will be jockeying for position and are likely two to three fights away from competing from UFC gold.

The first are Yoshihiro Akiyama and Michael Bisping, who will lock horns in the main event at UFC 120 on Oct 16th in London, England.

While two weeks later, on October 23rd former title contender Patrick Cote looks to rebound from his loss to Belcher at UFC 113 and take on Tom Lawlor at UFC 121 in Anaheim.

Further down the ladder is Dan Miller, who will be taking on John Salter at UFC 118.

As well as Chris Leben who is hoping the UFC pits him up against Wanderlei Silva, later this year.

With so many upsets occurring in MMA, nobody truly knows who the next few contenders will be for the division's champion Anderson Silva.

One thing is for certain: the days of calling the UFC's 185 lbs weight class weak, are all but gone.