After the dust had settled from Anderson Silvas second round destruction of Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 the one question that seemed to be on everyones lips was the same: Who can possibly stop Anderson Silva? Silva is now on a record breaking fifteen fight win streak in the UFC and there is no one who is even close to breaking his record. The UFC is the pinnacle for every elite mixed martial artist in the world and the ultimate testing ground for fighters. Fights can end in the blink of an eye and there are numerous methods of victory. To have faced fifteen of the worlds best martial artists who all have varying realms of expertise and to remain undefeated is quite simply phenomenal. Anderson Silva is in serious danger of cleaning out the middleweight division yet there are still some challenges remaining for him. Lets take a look at the 5 UFC fighters who have the best chance at dethroning the champion.
5. Alan Belcher
Alan The Talent Belcher (17-5-0) is a very accomplished mixed martial artist and is currently 6-1 in his last seven UFC fights with the only loss coming by a very contentious split decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama. If this fight had gone his way hed be on a seven fight win streak and perhaps next in the queue to fight Silva. He is nowhere near Silvas league in the striking department but this is not a criticism; there are very few men alive, if any, who are. He is however very comfortable with the fight standing and is a very able striker who has the ability to cause Silva problems on the feet. He also possesses a strong grappling game with excellent submission skills; his prowess in submission defence on display in the excellent victory over leg lock specialist Rousimar Palhares. These factors coupled with his superb conditioning would provide Silva with a stern test. Likely method of victory: I dont think Belcher can decision Silva, his best bet would be to try and strike with Silva until an opportunity arose to bring Silva to the mat and either ground and pound him or submit him.