At one point at middleweight? I remember talk of him being the man to beat Silva while he was in another organization. Some people even gave him a good chance vs Fedor from what I remember. Was he really the best middleweight around the mid 2000's? Did he deserve that rank and would he have beaten Andy if he was in the UFC?
There was really not much in the way of agreement over who should be ranked #1 at HW before Anderson beat Franklin twice. Remember this was a very confused division and the big names(Franklin, Hendo, Filho, Lindland, Anderson etc) hadn't faced each other, Hendo beating Busta was probably the biggest win anyone had at 185 around that time. Still you look at Lindland/Rampage and I think it shows you Lindland was certainly very legit in that era, many thought he deserved that decision. Post Fedor Lindland took over a year off in his late 30's and never looked like the same fighter to me. At his peak his submission game had actually evolved a lot, much moreso than say Randy or Hendo.
Lindland was never a legit #1 in the division, at best he was tied with Hendo and Franklin for a short period of time when it was too close to call. But once Anderson took the belt with ease and then beat Franklin again he put all debate about who was #1 to rest, even more so after he beat Hendo. But after Lindland got put out with a light tap from David Terrell I can't believe anyone ever honestly thought that he could beat The Spider.
First time Linland was Ranked #1.... MW - 2003 - Feb 7 - MMA Collective **Composite Rankings** 1.MATT 'THE LAW' LINDLAND 2.MURILO BUSTAMANTE 3.PAULO FILHO 4.PHIL 'NEW YORK BADASS' BARONI 5.STEVE 'LIONHEART' VIGNEAULT 6.AKIHIRO GONO 7.ANDRE SEMENOV 8.PHILLIP MILLER 9.KAZUSHI SAKURABA 10.DAVID 'THE CROW' LOISEAU MW - 2003 - DEC - Fighters & Broadcasters Poll 1. Matt Lindland - 89 pts(3) 2. Murilo Bustamante - 84 pts(4) 3. Sakuraba - 70 pts(3) 4. Evan Tanner - 44 pts 5. Phil Baroni - 43 pts 6. Anderson Silva - 33 pts 7. Jorge Rivera - 32 pts 8. Paulo Filho - 25 pts 9. Niko Vitale - 23 pts 10.Phillip Miller - 21 pts Others receiving votes - Tony Fryklund (20), Joe Doerksen (17), Dave Menne (16), Lee Murray (14), Benji Radach (13), David Loiseau (5), Jermaine Andre (4) Last time Lindland was Ranked #1.... MW - 2007 - Jun 27 - Weekly 1. Matt Lindland 2. Anderson Silva 3. Paulo Filho 4. Rich Franklin 5. Dan Henderson 6. Denis Kang 7. Nathan Marquardt 8. Robbie Lawler 9. Kazuo Misaki 10. Frank Trigg
Just did a quick search and found this thread. Lindland is seen here ranked at #1 during May of 2004. http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f44/history-odds-rankings-2001-2004-a-975549/
A lot of this, but his highest level of regard was probably post Terrell or maybe equal at best, I'd guess I became aware at the end of his UFC run... but I think the reason people felt he would (might) beat Anderson was the style matchup. I realised the error in this thinking once Lindland fought Vitor. I still wish he and Franklin would've fought before the Spider came along
There was a time where people believed Dana fired Lindland to protect Rich Franklin, who fit the more prototypical look of a champion. Lindland had a lot of support since he was worthy of fighting for the title when he was fired. This was back when Nate Quarry was getting a title shot. All things considered, Lindland has a pretty solid resume. He subbed Carlos Newton and Travis Lutter and was the first to TKO Jeremy Horn. Also, I felt he beat Rampage. For fighting up a weight class, that's quite an accomplishment.
If memory serves Dana jumped at the chance to fire Lindland because of his snooze-inducing style and his threat to Franklin, who at the time was one of the UFC's poster boys. I think Lindland showed up to an event wearing a hat with a sponsor that was banned by the UFC or something. Basically anybody else could have gotten away with that with a warning but Lindland, who was fired because of it. Personally I was intrigued by Franklin/Lindland and wish that it had happened.
Affliction needed to promote itself as having top talent, anti UFC lovers jumped on anything at the time that could be a rival. Belfort ko'd him in 2 min at Affliction. Hype train derailed
He used to be a great fighter. Very close decision with Rampage, which many people felt he won. He opened a cut on Fedor in the opening seconds of their fight and should've took him down, except Fedor kept grabbing the ropes and used them as leverage to reverse him (no surprise really, seeing as how Fedor is a HW and Lindland was a MW)
He was at one point in that discussion for sure. I dont think he ever deserved the top spot but as others have said before Anderson beat Franklin there really wasnt a clear number one.
He never had what I consider a real marquee win. Good but not great fighter. Franklin or Henderson would of defeated him IMHO.
