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Coming off a great fight card on Saturday afternoon at UFC 95, I come away with a number of things. I was convinced before, but this was a very emphatic way to make it sink in to the rest of the fight world…middleweight Demian Maia is for real and he’s not done yet.
Of course, the main event saw Diego Sanchez defeat Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision and we saw some pretty damn good knockouts throughout. But the overwhelming thing I come away with is just how scary Demian Maia is going to be at 185 pounds. His dismantling of Chael Sonnen blew my mind, and I was a huge booster of this guy BEFORE. His improvement in his overall game was stunning from his previous fight with Nate Quarry.
There is no debate: Maia is the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner in MMA. Not only is he technically incredible, but it’s his application to MMA that is unparalleled. The way he is able to slip in to submissions from all positions on the ground is incredible, and his ability to force opponents into positions that he can lock in holds can’t be underestimated. Look at his fight with Sonnen on Saturday…he was outstriking him for most of the fight, and then he forced him to the clinch, busted out a judo throw and while falling to the ground and already set up a triangle choke from top position. Bam, fight over. Anderson Silva needs to be on alert, because Maia is on his way up.
Now, I don’t believe Maia is quite ready for a title shot at 185 pounds. I believe he needs to go through the other top middleweight on Saturday’s card: Nate Marquardt. He absolutely man-handled Wilson Gouveia on Saturday, walking away with a 3rd round TKO victory. We’ve always been well aware of Marquardt’s BJJ is world class, but the way he dominated Gouveia in the striking game was very impressive. His combos and kicks were outstanding, and had he not finished the fight, he would have walked away with a unanimous decision.
So to me, we’ve GOT to see a Marquardt-Maia meeting to really decide who Silva’s next opponent is. Anderson will destoy Thales Leites in Montreal in April, so give us a June fight between Nate and Demian and you’ve got a great title storyline.
As for the rest of the card, lots of good value. I thought the main event was the worst fight of the night, as neither fighter showed me anything. Stevenson looked more 1 dimensional than I’ve ever seen him, while Sanchez was just a little better on his feet. The decision was the right one, but I would have liked to see a little more intensity and a little more versatility from both fighters. I’m sorry, if either Joe or Diego think they are ready to challenge BJ Penn or Kenny Florian atop the division, they are wrong.
Josh Koscheck proved you can’t take a second off in a fight or you’re going to get caught and knocked out, and that’s exactly what happened Saturday. It was a fair stoppage regardless of how much Koscheck disagrees. And how about Dan Hardy winning his second straight fight inside The Octagon in front of his hometown crowd.
UFC 96 goes on March 7th with Rampage Jackson and Keith Jardine headlining.
Hey Pat – I enjoyed this card too. It’s always the ones with the lesser cards that seem to impress me the most.
Maia is sick. Dude had a triangle before he hit the ground. It just proves how advanced he is with his BJJ. He always is 2-3 steps ahead planning. He trained with Mir, an BJJ black belt, and even Mir said Maia’s BJJ is out of this world. Sick.
Although my 2nd bromance Nate the Great looked dominant in his win, I still can’t see him topping Maia at this stage. I’d be surprised. But even still, that fight’s gotta happen before we find out who fights Anderson.
I too was impressed with Diego’s progression and he looked good at 155. I was sure he’d gas, but he didn’t. Both these fighters were one-dimensional in my book but Diego has progressed – Daddy, definitely not and we all saw it. I wonder Pat where you see Diego fitting in with the 155 class?
He’s definitely not hanging with BJ or K Flo yet, and i’m hard pressed to even think he can hang with people like Sean Sherk or Gray Maynard. Maybe tell me what you think?
Although, with the way he’s progressing, a fight between him and Sherk shouldn’t be too far away and I’m sure he’ll get better even more when that time does come.
PS: On Diego, I just don’t buy the guy as a credible 155 pound contender. He’s extremely talented but I’ve just always seen him a rung below the top notch of any division he’s been in (185, 170 or now 155). I think Sherk would destroy him to be honest. Diego had never had that 1 impressive win…he lost to Koscheck and Fitch and didn’t look good at all in a decision over Joe.
I agree that Nate would probably have a tough time with Maia, although Nate’s BJJ is better than anyone else Maia has fought in the UFC. Nate’s standup is also really, really good, so I think he could hang with Maia and could pull of an upset. I’m a big Marquardt booster, so I want to see that fight.
- Ty