he should be on tv more. well spoken and great interview
I hope Maia takes this one! His standup to me is still a little suspect. I think Maia will do just enough to take Nate to the ground and get a sub, maybe a tight ankle lock.I just want to see some new blood in there against Anderson as his number of fighte left on his contract is dwindling! I dont want to see repeats, i think if Nate fights Anderson again, it will be alot of the same as last time!
Rooting for Maia, but the difference in stand-up skill, size, strength, and speed with Marquardt just seems too much to overcome. Even if Maia does get it to the ground, Nate can just play tight defense and stall for the stand-up like he did with Lister.
He did beat Sonnen who is considered top 10. Idiot.
Edit. Fail at names.
i don't think it's really fair to ask Demian Maia, or any fighter in the MW division really, to beat top 10 opponents just to get a shot. do i think that would be good criteria for getting one? yes, but compare his title run to the run of Anderson and everyone Anderson's fought for the title since he won and tell me Maia hasn't already accomplished similar feats:
Anderson - beat Leben in his first UFC fight, got DQed vs. Okami 2 fights prior, not counting that DQ he was on a 3-fight streak total
Hendo - got a shot based off the fact that he's a badass and had PRIDE's MW title. he lost his previous fight vs. Rampage.
Marquardt - decisioned Lister, who had 2 fights in the UFC and came in with a loss to Arona from PRIDE. 4-fight streak in the UFC, 6-fight streak total
Lutter - submitted Cote, won TUF for an auto-shot. his only UFC win in his streak, otherwise 3-fight streak total
Cote - decisioned Almeida, giving him a 4-win streak in the UFC, 5-fight streak total
Franklin - decisioned Okami, 2-fight streak in the UFC, was dethroned by Anderson in the first place so he got a rematch quicker than normal.
Leites - decisioned Marquardt (very sketchy win)/submitted McFedries. 5-fight streakin in the UFC.
if you really compare what all of those fighters did to get their shot at MW, beating Chael Sonnen to make a 5-fight winning streak in which he finished all of his opponents convincingly is equivalent and arguably even more proof than what some of those guys did. Chael Sonnen just came off beating Paulo Filho, even though Filho looked like shit, a win's a win. he could already have a title shot right now and no one would be able to argue that he is being given special treatment any more than those guys
if Demian Maia beats Marquardt even somewhat convincingly, he'll have proved himself more on the way to getting a title shot than any fighter in the MW division in the last 2-3 years if not the entire existence of the MW division, with the only person comparable to him being Marquardt himself.
Big Maia fan, I hope he taps out Nate, then does the same against Anderson.
I am looking forward to seeing the fight Friday. I would like to see Maia win just because I think he poses the best threat to Andersons reign of terror in the UFC. Maias key to success is to crowd Anderson and hope to get a takedown without taking to much damage. Once its on the ground Maia should be able to sub Anderson (yes I realize his bjj is underated and he is a black belt under the Nog brothers) Just take into consideration Maia is the top 1% of grapplers in the world
maia seems like a cool guy and i really like watching him fight.. i'm pulling for him
x107.5 ttt!
Damian Maia will win.
maia seem really cool and i think if anyone has a chance to tap sivlia it's him...or "the micheal jordaon of BJJ".
While I like Anderson's new attitude and approach, I'd love to see Maia drag him down and sub him