[MrBrutal]

I actually think Silva retiring soon will be very good for the UFC middleweight division. Right now, Silva is the king and the UFC is just pulling at straws trying to raise up contenders to fight him all the while being careful not to have guys who have already been beaten by Silva beat the contenders the UFC is raising. What this means is, instead of seeing badass fights like they are having at LHW or WW right now between top 10 fighters, for the most part, you are seeing top 10 guys fight tough but lower-ranked opponents, or move up weight (see Henderson, Franklin, Marquardt) while guys they would kill or have beaten (Leites, Okami, Bisping) are getting groomed for title shots.
With Silva gone you will see a picture more like that of the current LHW division, with top guys constantly fighting other top guys.