Barring another injury or unforeseen circumstance, Andersen Silva will finally defend his UFC middleweight title at UFC 112. Now that we know his opponent will be Brazilian jiu jitsu sensation Demian Maia it's time to look at how it was determined and the impact that this fight will have on the struggling middleweight division. Maia is coming off of an impressive victory over Dan Miller at UFC 109, bouncing back from a KO loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC 102. Marquardt seemed to be headed for another shot at Silva until his unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen, which also took place at 109. Maia beat Sonnen at UFC 95 and Sonnen ripped off three consecutive wins vs. Yushin Okami, Dan Miller, and although he was very impressive in his win over Marquardt he did suffer a nasty gash on his forehead that won't allow him to fight so soon. There had been talk of the Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping grudge match winner becoming the number one contender but when Henderson knocked out Bisping and the title fight was given to Vitor Belfort in his favor, Henderson elected not to sign a new deal with the UFC and fled for Strikeforce. Silva had an injured elbow fixed and delayed the fight with Belfort and now Belfort is having surgery on a bad shoulder. The fact that Maia is only riding a one-fight winning streak doesn't seem to make him the best candidate but he is. Finding a light-heavyweight to fill in wasn't going to be an easy task either and the middleweight belt hasn't been defended in almost a year at this point. The better news that comes from this is that the messy middleweight division should now start to take on a better shape.

Silva and Maia will fight at UFC 112 while Sonnen, apparently a contender, has time to recover from a cut suffered in the Marquardt fight. If Sonnen fights the winner of Silva vs. Maia that would likely take place in the summer of this year and will give Belfort an opportunity to heal and fight that winner. That puts us into autumn by which time Georges St. Pierre might be ready to move up to the division and give it a much needed spark. At that point Marquardt could be back on a winning streak and Silva could either be retired or fighting at light-heavyweight. So while the Maia title shot is less than ideal on the surface, it seems to make the most sense for both the present and the future of the division.

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