Who’s Next For Anderson Silva? Marquardt or Henderson.

Both fighters are riding three fight winning streaks. Both men have shown the ability to finish their opponents. Both men have already fallen victim to “The Spider”.

Both Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson can make a great argument as to why they should be the next middleweight challenger to have another crack at Anderson Silva.

Both men are coming off of high profile match-ups where they finished off their opponents in dramatic fashion.

Marquardt went into his showdown with the previously undefeated Demain Maia looking to prove to the UFC why he deserves another title shot. He proved his point in resounding fashion.

The question leading up to the Maia bout was whether or not Marquardt had the ability to avoid becoming Maia’s sixth straight opponent to succumb to a submission.

Twenty one seconds in to their fight and that questions still remains unanswered, although Marquardt proved once again that his stand-up has become much improved since his first bout with Silva in 2007 at UFC 73.

Maia became Marquardt’s third straight opponent to be put to sleep by the former seven time King of Pancrase. Showing he is a good study in his opponents tendencies, Marquardt capitalized right away as he avoided a left kick from Maia and landed a straight right that sent the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stand-out crashing to the canvas. In a show of good sportsmanship, Marquardt backed off of his fallen opponent even though the referee had yet to stop the bout.

Henderson is also coming off of a highlight reel knockout victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 100. After suffering two straight title losses to begin his second tour of duty with the UFC, Henderson has now won three straight bouts.

His fight with Silva was to unify the UFC and Pride middleweight championships. Headlining UFC 82 in March of 2008, Henderson gave Silva all he could handle as he controlled the entire first round. Fighting in Silva’s guard, Henderson was able to land some short elbows and a few punches to frustrate Silva. Unfortunately for Henderson, Silva rebounded quickly in the second and choked out Henderson late in the round.

Silva’s camp is calling for a bout between Henderson and Marquardt in order to determine a true number one contender. Apparently the UFC may agree with them as there are rumors circulating that a Marquardt-Henderson bout will headline UFC 105 in November. UFC President Dana White has backed off of initial comments in which he stated that Henderson would in fact receive the next title shot.

It is easy to make a case for both fighters as they both have tremendous skills and have the tools necessary to give Silva a tougher test the second time around. Marquardt’s striking has improved by leaps and bounds since their first encounter and Henderson is the type of fighter who rarely makes the same mistake twice. I am not saying either man can or will defeat Silva but I do believe that either fight would be much more interesting the second time around.

An elimination bout seems the way to go here while Silva can take another fight at 205 to remain active. Henderson loves to stand and bang but will take the fight to the ground if he needs to. Utilizing his superb Greco-Roman wrestling skills, Henderson much like Randy Couture, loves the clinch and to dirty box. Marquardt is a much more versatile striker than Henderson. Nate will use a variety of kicks, knees and punches to keep Henderson off balance.

If the fight hits the ground, Marquardt’s submission skills dwarf those of Henderson. In 25 career victories, Henderson has submitted one fighter and that was due to a knee to the ribs. Marquardt has accumulated 15 submission victories out of 29 career wins. Both men are on a roll, both men want revenge on Silva and both men are willing to go all out to accomplish their goals. It is going to be a fun process to determine who gets the first crack at Silva.