2002 UFC Middleweight Top 5 Rankings

1. Murilo Bustamante

 










After suffering his first loss in MMA to Chuck Liddell at light heavyweight last year, Bustamante would go on to win the Middleweight title over Dave Menne and defended successfully against Lindland making him the best middleweight in the UFC.

2. Matt Lindland 









Lindland extended his undefeated record to 7-0 by beating former welterweight champion Pat Miletich. The win would set up a title fight where we would lose by submission twice in one night.

3. Ivan Salaverry 










Salaverry’s win over Semenov in his UFC debut earns him a spot in the top five, but with a loss to the former number one contender, I can only rank him so high.

4. Andre Semenov 










Semenov earns a TKO win over Almeida to extend his winning streak to ten. But a TKO loss to the man ranked above him would snap his winning streak. 

5. Ricardo Almeida 













The transition from jiu jitsu to MMA did not go so smoothly for Almeida as he lost his only fight this year by TKO. A submission win over Eugene Jackson last year keeps him in the top five by default.

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