With his knockout victory of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 103, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort returned to the UFC and jumped to the top of the middleweight buzz rankings for September. It marked the third consecutive KO victory for the still-young UFC pioneer, and his climb up the buzz rankings is evidence of his continued drawing power as a mixed martial artist. A rumored bout against middleweight champion Anderson Silva may be up next and could be a solid pay per view draw.
Dan Henderson, currently in contract renewal negotiations with the UFC, remains near the top of the divisional buzz rankings two months removed from his devastating knockout of British contender Michael “The Count” Bisping. His rumored next opponent, Nate Marquardt, dropped six spots to 10th among middleweights. Jason “Mayhem” Miller continues to benefit from his MTV show ‘Bully Beatdown’, and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal jumped 24 spots after his late-August victory over Mark Kerr for the M-1 promotion.
Chris Leben, Demian Maia, and Jake Rosholt each quickly dropped from the divisional top 20 in the month following their UFC 102 bouts.
| September Rank |
Middleweight Fighter |
August to September Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitor Belfort | Up 2 |
| 2 | Anderson Silva | Down 1 |
| 3 | Dan Henderson | Down 1 |
| 4 | Jason “Mayhem” Miller | Up 5 |
| 5 | Royce Gracie | Up 8 |
| 6 | Frank Shamrock | No Change |
| 7 | Nick Diaz | Down 2 |
| 8 | Cung Le | Up 2 |
| 9 | Evan Tanner | Up 10 |
| 10 | Nate Marquardt | Down 6 |
| 11 | Michael Bisping | Up 1 |
| 12 | Yushin Okami | Up 6 |
| 13 | Jeremy Horn | Up 11 |
| 14 | Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal | Up 24 |
| 15 | Jake Shields | Up 6 |
| 16 | Matt Lindland | Up 14 |
| 17 | Murilo “Ninja” Rua | Up 37 |
| 18 | Kazushi Sakuraba | Up 5 |
| 19 | Thales Leites | Down 3 |
| 20 | Marvin Eastman | Up 36 |
Dropped out of Middleweight Top 20:
Chris Leben (#22), Kendall Grove (#24), Demian Maia (#38), Alessio Sakara (#39), Jesse Taylor (#56), Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (#72), Jake Rosholt (#85)
[...] Top 20 Middleweight Buzz Rankings for recent months: – October 2009 (#1 Rank: Anderson Silva) – September 2009 (#1 Rank: Vitor Belfort) [...]