[/QUOTE]I'll give you Marquadt. Okami, Stann and Bisping, although on a roll, were nowhere near proper contenders at the time. [/QUOTE]
Okami was ranked in the top 5 at middleweight when they fought in 2009 and was on a three fight win streak. Then he beat Marquardt, who was ranked #2, 5 months later. I would say he definitely earned his first shot.
Although he lost to Silva, he pretty much dominated most of the fight so you had to know he was going to be fast tracked to a rematch. He tapped out Stann in his next fight. Stann was ranked #6 at the time and on a three fight win streak. Then he beat Bisping who was ranked #7 and on a 4 fight win streak. So two strong wins against top 10 competition plus his previous performance against Silva most definitely earned him that second shot.
His LHW shot against Jones on the other hand..... yeah that was not earned.