I think if Bisping beats Akiyama he'll fight Wanderlei Silva (Returning 2011 following knee surgery) & the winner of that fight will face the Champion, Silva,Belfort,Mardquart,Okami depending on how these fights pan out with regards to rematches. I don't see Bisping fighting Maia or Munoz as these are ground fighters & Joe Silva won't match them up so from now till mid 2011 the top title challengers who are/may face eachother are all standup fighters.
It all depends on the two title & contender fights & Bisping winning which isn't gonna be easy, Akiyama is a black belt & 7 time Judo champion & 2002 Asia games gold medal winner + karate balck belt but he is the type of fighter that Bisping will want to fight.
I still have doubts on the UFC giving Bisping a title shot!!!
Middleweight rankings April 2010.
1. Anderson Silva – 27-4, 12-0 UFC
2. Chael Sonnen – 25-10-1, 4-4 UFC
3. Vitor Belfort – 19-8, 8-4 UFC
4. Nate Marquardt – 30-9-2, 9-3 UFC
5. Demian Maia – 13-2, 7-2 UFC
6. Yushin Okami – 25-5, 9-2 UFC
7. Wanderlei Silva – 34-10-1-1, 3-5 UFC
8. Yoshihiro Akiyama – 13-1-2, 1-1 UFC
9. Michael Bisping – 19-3, 9-3 UFC
10. Mark Munoz – 8-2, 3-2 UFC
Welterweight rankings March 2010.
1. Georges St-Pierre – 22-2, 15-2 UFC
2. Jon Fitch – 23-3-1, 13-1 UFC
3. Thiago Alves – 17-7, 9-4 UFC
4. Dan Hardy – 24-6-1, 4-1 UFC
5. Paulo Thiago – 13-2, 3-2 UFC
6. Josh Koscheck – 16-4, 13-4 UFC
7. Paul Daley – 23-8-2, 2-0 UFC (No longer in the UFC, how he got to No7 after 2 fights
)
8. Matt Hughes – 45-7, 17-5 UFC
9. Matt Serra – 11-6, 7-6 UFC
10. Diego Sanchez – 21-4, 10-4 UFC
This is probably the most competitive division in the UFC (As in most combat sports) so to guess possible matchups/title shots would be silly & the research takes too long & i do have a life to live...
Jon Fitch is the official no1 contender although this has been called into question by Dana White, for what reason i'm not sure.
Upcoming fights.
Matt Serra v Chris Lytle UFC 119 September 25, 2010
Dan Hardy v Carlos Condit UFC 120 October 16, 2010
John Hathaway v Mike Pyle UFC 120 October 16, 2010
Diego Sanchez v Paulo Thiago UFC 121 October 23, 2010
Jake Shields v Martin Kampmann UFC 121 October 23, 2010
Matt Hughes v BJ Penn UFC 123 November 20, 2010
GSP V Josh Koscheck UFC 124 December 11, 2010
Thiago Alves v John Howard ufc 124 December 11, 2010 (Not confirmed)
With the results of these fights obviously not yet know the ramifications for possible fights is endless with many other top fighters in the division aswell such as Anthony Johnson, Kim Dong-Hyun, Ricardo Almeida, Mick Swick just to name a few. GSP apart this is a very close division with some great fights to come, although on the matter of GSP i do think Koscheck is the fighter that will be the biggest challenge to him as they are pretty equal in every aspect of their game & fight outcomes, one possible being GSP is a black belt BBJ & i'm not sure what level Koscheck has?
Where indeed would we be without me groundnpound,
with all the research & corrections needed this post has taken me over 2 hours, what was it that i said.. "I do have a life to live"