Who Are the Darkhorses of the UFC Middleweight Division?
The UFC Middleweight Division is filled with some of the most ruthless fighters. The champion, Israel Adesanya looks formidable at the top, however, title contenders such as Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker, and Darren Till are big threats to Adesanya's throne.
Besides the big names in the division, some fighters have been making a slow but steady move to the top. And Uriah Hall is one of them.
Hall became a sensation when he showed up on The Ultimate Fighter season 17. He caught the fans' attention with his vicious knockouts. After the win against Gegard Mousasi, it seemed Uriah Hall was on his way to a potential title shot. However, he suffered multiple losses against the top middleweights. He lost to Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, and Gegard Mousasi, in a rematch, in his next few fights.
At one point, Uriah Hall was about to get cut from UFC. However, he turned things around and made a statement with a vicious knockout over Bevon Lewis. Hall would go on to secure a massive victory over Antonio Carlos Junior.
Hall is scheduled to take on Yoel Romero next in August. And it won't be a surprise if Hall gets the job done against Romero. Hall looked great in his last fight. A win over Romero will take Hall one step closer to a potential title shot.
Is Edmen Shahbazyan the next UFC champion?
However, the hottest prospect in middleweight at the moment has to be Edmen Shahbazyan. He has an unbeatable record with 11 wins. He beat a very tough opponent, Brad Tavares, in his last fight with a head kick KO. After his five finishes in UFC, fans have started believing that Edmen Shahbazyan is a future champion.
Although it's too early to predict Edmen's future in UFC his skillsets can be a problem for the top 5 middleweights. Edmen takes on Derek Brunson in his next fight. And it will the toughest fight of his career so far. If Shahbazyan can get an early finish over Brunson then the top middleweights will have to start taking him seriously.
Besides that, Marvin Vettori is also stacking up wins in the middleweight division. Since his split decision loss to Israel Adesanya, Marvin Vettori has won three fights. And he dominated Karl Roberson in his last fight. It would be intriguing to see what the future holds for these UFC middleweights.