Chris Weidman vs Demian Maia for FOX card

http://www.mmamania.com/2012/1/23/2728135/ufc-on-fox-2-chris-weidman-vs-demian-maia-fight-preview-mma

Quote :

"I'm a wrestler. I'm always going to start the fight obviously
standing, (but) if the takedowns are there, I'm going to get my
takedown. I'm always going to be looking to pass and I'm always going to
be looking for submissions no matter who I'm fighting. Some people
never have opportunities like this given to them. I wasn't going to let
someone else jump in there and take that opportunity, so it's good
stuff."

-Weidman

Not sure about the Weidman-Maia fight. I'm sure Weidman will look to score some takedowns purely for point grubbing purposes but i doubt he'll look to spend any signifcant duration of time on the mat with Maia. Weidman should be able to keep it standing but here is a fight where Maia may be the better striker. We'll see. Unsure because Weidman has never fought a high level BJJ guy and has been fighting one dimensional strikers or inferior wrestlers.

I think Palhares turned down the fight because he does not hold any advantages over Maia. Maia could end up working him like he worked Jorge Santiago.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Not sure about the Weidman-Maia fight. I'm sure Weidman will look to score some takedowns purely for point grubbing purposes but i doubt he'll look to spend any signifcant duration of time on the mat with Maia. Weidman should be able to keep it standing but here is a fight where Maia may be the better striker. We'll see. Unsure because Weidman has never fought a high level BJJ guy and has been fighting one dimensional strikers or inferior wrestlers.

I think Palhares turned down the fight because he does not hold any advantages over Maia. Maia could end up working him like he worked Jorge Santiago.

I honestly don't know if Maia works Palhares. There's the pure strength factor to consider that would bridge whatever gap exists between them skill wise. There's just no countering that tard's strength when he locks up a leg, which he seems to be some kind of savant at doing, in the 2 seconds between the time he grabs it and rips it apart. Let's not forget Maia was getting the better of Munoz striking up until Munoz laid some power on him, from there Demian didn't want to strike anymore and it would probably be the same here.

I think Palhares could beat Maia. To this day, Dan Henderson is really the only guy with a clean win on him. I think he beats Marqurdt when he isn't busy defeating himself and I don't know anything about that split decision loss he had 6 years ago.

Yeah, i thought Palhares would have beat Marquardt as well. I picked him and was very disappointed when he took his eye of the ball.

I'm not saying Palhares couldnt beat Maia but i would say Palhares matches up better with guys ranked higher than Maia but the Maia matchup does not seem Palhares friedly as say a Chael Sonnen fight would..but who knows, things change. Maia has been out of the competitive grappling field for awhile and from reports has trained less in BJJ to improve his striking..and it shows in his performances because his BJJ is not as "game over" as it was when he first came on the scene. Maybe it wouldnt be a huge advantage for Maia since Palhares is very high level himself, is stronger and is still somewhat on the world competitive grappling scene. Doubt he would lock that heel hook on Maia though.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Yeah, i thought Palhares would have beat Marquardt as well. I picked him and was very disappointed when he took his eye of the ball.

I'm not saying Palhares couldnt beat Maia but i would say Palhares matches up better with guys ranked higher than Maia but the Maia matchup does not seem Palhares friedly as say a Chael Sonnen fight would..but who knows, things change. Maia has been out of the competitive grappling field for awhile and from reports has trained less in BJJ to improve his striking..and it shows in his performances because his BJJ is not as "game over" as it was when he first came on the scene. Maybe it wouldnt be a huge advantage for Maia since Palhares is very high level himself, is stronger and is still somewhat on the world competitive grappling scene. Doubt he would lock that heel hook on Maia though.

Oh I don't necessarily think he gets it on Maia, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that he does. The fact that he could do it may effect Maia's overall performance by constantly looking to avoid anything that might lead to that, if that makes sense. Maia has definitely devoted much less time to grappling lately and it shows in his hands as well as when he does get things down. He's still very clearly elite for a grappler in MMA. I just don't like how he matches up with Palhares strength wise. Maia is known to be a pretty strong guy himself but I would put My money on Palhares easily being the stronger guy between them and probably the strongest guy in the division as far as just straight manhandling people goes.