Top Middleweights outside of UFC

Recently I took a look at the top fighters in the UFC’s middleweight division. Let’s now examine the top middleweights competing in other MMA promotions throughout the world. This is one of the most scattered weight classes in MMA, even though the UFC maintains a lead with the most top fighters at 185 lbs, which will only strengthen if Zuffa merges the WEC & UFC middleweight divisions as has been rumored. Nevertheless, there are plenty of top-level fighters competing in various organizations, with Japan’s Dream coming the closes to giving UFC a run for its money. Here are the top 15 middleweights outside of the UFC, according to the latest Fightmatrix.com ranking:

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HOW cool would it be to be Dan Molina and be 1 spot ahead of Evan Tanner at 81. Man I would be so pumped. Good for that guy , I love a underdog!

i think the best middleweight outside of the ufc has to be robbie lawler....world class striking and power.....can take a decent punch, good wrestling and his submission defense has improved leaps and bounds....i think misaki is waay overated...trigg is maybe not top 10 in my book but atleast top 15.....kang has fallen on hard times, but i still think he is top 10....moussi or however you spell his name his top15 and has a great great future ahead of him.....akiyama is pretty damn good even tho he's a cheater.....hector lombard and melvin manhoaf or worth mentioning too

i almost forgot cung le and matt linland too.....linland is overated i think but still a top mw....joey villasenor is getting alot better too

Why is this division so thin, not only in the ufc but mma wide. I think outside the top five it drops way off.

it only seems thin cuz the top dawg is pretty much untouchable right now....after him, you got a heirachy of a couple fighters and then a bunch of really good neck to neck guys...i think its one of the most exciting cuz there is so many great fighters at the same level....before anderson silva, nobody talked about how thin the division was

no order:
lawler
mousasi
akiyama
lindland
belfort

filho is already with zuffa.

I don't know why Cung Le's getting all the hype. Frank hasn't been the fighter he used to be and Cung is too old to make an overall impact in the sport with only 6 fights.

He's a good fighter but ever since he beat Frank, he's getting too much hype IMO

Anyway would Kang count as a MW still?

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Posted by copcopps

I don't know why Cung Le's getting all the hype. Frank hasn't been the fighter he used to be and Cung is too old to make an overall impact in the sport with only 6 fights.

He's a good fighter but ever since he beat Frank, he's getting too much hype IMO

Anyway would Kang count as a MW still?

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i agree about Cung Le, i mean the man is a legend of Martial Arts in the United States but he is just too old to really make a big name for himself at MW.

and yes, Kang would b considered a MW as he just participated in the MW GP in Dream. however, he has lost 3 of his last 5 including 2 straight. granted his recent losses are to top MWs (Akiyama, Misaki, Gregard) but i think he has dropped off the rankings a bit and needs to get back on track.

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Posted by wiggum

i think the best middleweight outside of the ufc has to be robbie lawler....world class striking and power.....can take a decent punch, good wrestling and his submission defense has improved leaps and bounds....i think misaki is waay overated...trigg is maybe not top 10 in my book but atleast top 15.....kang has fallen on hard times, but i still think he is top 10....moussi or however you spell his name his top15 and has a great great future ahead of him.....akiyama is pretty damn good even tho he's a cheater.....hector lombard and melvin manhoaf or worth mentioning too

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Its hard to get lawler's loss to mayhem out of my head, submissions still get him but on the feet hes a beast.

Misaki is a special type of fighter, a good wrestler can hold him down, but put him against a striker that isnt technically sound and/or slow and he'll embarass him. He made Henderson look bad.

a name I don't see being mentioned here is: Ronaldo "Jacare" De Souza.

I have to agree with Pookie about Misaki... I think he's very underrated and some of his best fights are still ahead of him. I expect him to easily beat Joe Riggs.

Here are my top 10:
Matt Lindland
Robbie Lawler
Joe Villasenor
Cung Le
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Gegarg Mousasi
Murilo Rua
Frank Trigg
Vitor Belfort
Jason "Mayhem" Miller

Gegard Mousasi, Melvin Manhoef, Paulo Filho, Yoshihiro Akiyama.

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Posted by gcraig22

Here are my top 10:
Matt Lindland
Robbie Lawler
Joe Villasenor
Cung Le
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Gegarg Mousasi
Murilo Rua
Frank Trigg
Vitor Belfort
Jason "Mayhem" Miller

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Nice list. I could argue Misaki, Kang, Louiseau or Lutter should be on there, but you could argue the other way just aa easily.

Cung Le at 28 wow bad list, and IMO Paulo Filho is the best MW outside the UFC

I always enjoy the Fight Matrix's rankings. Keep up the good work guys.

frank trigg
mousasi
mayhem miller
cung le
dennis kang
kazuo misaki
akiyama
lawler
to name a few