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UFC 271: MMA's middleweight Mount Rushmore -- Just getting started, Israel Adesanya takes his place

Anderson Silva stands alone among middleweights in the history of mixed martial arts. You can carve that into granite.

If one were to mimic the sculptural design of Mount Rushmore, the grand monument in South Dakota that honors four seminal U.S. presidents, the most honest encapsulation of 185-pound MMA greatness would be this:

Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva.

But we can't do that.

Although it's indisputable that the proper placement of other middleweights would be on a mountainside miles away and at a much lower altitude, there are fighters who deserve to be recognized.