Pro middleweights name their 185-pound GOAT

One of the biggest questions in all of MMA is who is the GOAT? Is it someone who had the biggest impact on the sport or the person who won the most? It’s an interesting debate for fighters and fans alike to have at any time.

So, with little to no MMA on for the foreseeable future, BJPENN.com reached out to several current and former middleweights to ask who their divisional GOAT is. To no surprise, the vast majority picked Anderson Silva.

Middleweights Decide Who the 185-Pound GOAT Is

Rafael Lovato Jr., former Bellator middleweight champion: Anderson Silva. He had a crazy long reign as the champ. Finished pretty much all his opponents with both muay Thai and jiu-jitsu. He could easily fight bigger opponents and even went the distance with Daniel Cormier on short notice and fought well. Went the distance with the champ who is so much younger and his ability to fight younger opponents and hardly take any damage shows how technical he is. I don’t think we’ll see anyone else have the reign he had.

John Salter, Bellator middleweight: I think it will be Israel. Not because of how good he is now—I think that with all of his skill and ability and he is still improving and trying to get better at wrestling. We also haven’t seen anyone be able to hold him down. I also think that he is a very smart fighter and doesn’t make emotional decisions.

Marvin Vettori, UFC middleweight: Anderson Silva because of how dominant he was and how long he reigned as champion.

Eryk Anders, UFC middleweight: The middleweight GOAT right now is Anderson Silva hands down. His resume speaks for itself.

Ian Heinisch, UFC middleweight: Anderson Silva because in his time on top he wasn’t just a little better than everyone. He played with them and was just on a different level.

Zak Cummings, UFC middleweight: I mean I feel no one has surpassed what Anderson Silva has done. In my mind, he is still the GOAT. Years of finishes and he seemed unbeatable. He went up to 205 and finished fights including beating former world champions. Was losing an entire fight to Chael and found a way to win. As of now, he’s still the GOAT.

Anthony Hernandez, UFC middleweight: Middleweight GOAT would be Anderson Silva. He held the belt forever and is still dangerous.

James Krause, UFC middleweight: Anderson Silva. His long reign as champion hasn’t even been close to being touched in my opinion.

Trevin Giles, UFC middleweight: If I’m not mistaken Anderson Silva had a 16 fight winning streak with 10 title defenses and 13 of 16 wins are finishes. Anderson Silva is the middleweight GOAT hands down.

Andrew Kapel, Bellator middleweight: I think for middleweight it’s obviously Anderson Silva. He had a ridiculous win streak, did real-life matrix moves and had a wild comeback vs. Chael. He was just ahead of the curve.

Consensus Middleweight GOAT: Anderson Silva

Do you agree with the pros that Anderson Silva is the middleweight GOAT? Let us know in the comment section.

ICYMI: Pros have already picked the flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight GOATs.

Stay locked to BJPENN.com over the coming days to see who pros picked as the GOAT for every division.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/2/2020.