[TraMaI]

Honestly after tonight, Maia got outclassed. He got beaten to tar against Nate too (). So honestly, I think it's time for a change in atmosphere.

He should seriously consider moving down in weight to 170. Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of fights left for Demian at MW, but I don't think his future is there. He weighed between 77 and 87 kg in ADCC, which is roughly 170-190 lbs. That makes him a fairly small MW. Yes he looked comparable to Nate at the weigh ins, but that's also when Nate was totally dehydrated. I think he could easily make the weight cut and I also think he could easily dispose of a LOT of WWs. There are really very little very high level BJJ practitioners in the UFC's WW division and there a LOADS of wrestlers and we've seen what he does to really high caliber wrestlers, case in point, Chael Sonnen (R). He's only 6'1'' and I think he probably walks around at 195 at the most and could make the cut pretty easy...

Comments? Hate? Discussion? GO!

 

[xeberus]

I'd like to see maia at 170. If he can pick up some decent striking, maybe we could see a battle between him and gsp :thumb02:

I'd rather be on top of an hiv positive hooker than maia.

 

[TraMaI]

I think his striking is fairly decent to be honest with you. His fundamentals are really solid, he doesn't get baited, has good timing and knows how to box. His kicks could definitely use some work but I could see him out striking quite a few people that many wouldn't think he could TBH. I mean, yes, his stand up needs some work, but it's not horribly bad is what I'm saying.

 

[Indestructibl3]

I doubt he'd drop to WW because he's actually doing really well at MW. Okay, he got dropped by Marquardt (a pretty bad mistake by Maia) who isn't exactly the biggest bum on his feet. And now he lost a decision to arguably the #1 P4P fighter in the world. Regardless of what people think - Maia's stand-up has improved dramatically, evident in his fight against Dan Miller. And think about it, before he began working on his striking diligently, he took out Sonnen, Quarry, McDonald - who aren't exactly the worst of fighters.

Give Maia some more time, to pick up his striking further, to improve his wrestling and he'll be a force at MW (although I believe he already is). Everyone needs to understand that unfortunately no one is going to beat Anderson Silva at MW right now.

So yeah, basically I see (I hope) Maia sticking around at MW and making another run for the title after taking out a couple of contenders. Wouldn't mind seeing Cote v Maia after Cote wrecks Belcher.

 

[osmium]

I'm not into telling guys who are pretty successful at their weight class to move down. He isn't beating Andy but neither is any other MW in the world so why should he move down because of that. He just needs to develope the rest of his skills he can beat Nate if he improves his wrestling and striking. It isn't like he could take down GSP either so I don't really understand why people think this is a great idea.

 

[No_Mercy]

Maia can beat everybody in MW I believe as his BJJ is that good maybe even Marquardt possibily a second time around. At 170 he'll be on cruise control. I'd like to see him vs Almeida.

 

[kay_o_ken]

problem is gsp will own maia just as bad as silva imo

 

[TraMaI]

problem is gsp will own maia just as bad as silva imo

I have a hard time seeing that happen TBH. Even if it does at least it's a good fight because he's going to threaten GSP in a BIG way off his back. It's going to force GSP out of his comfort zone.

 

[limba]

I like Maia at MW tbh.
Hia record is realy good: losses to Silva and Marquardt (big mistake from Maia in this one imo) and the rest of the fights he won. Yes, he isn't the biggest MW out there, but he can improve on his size also. GSP put some weight on him, so could Maia. He made realy big improvements in his stand-up and even though he got outclassed by Silva on the feet, he did better than Forrest for example (imo).

Give him more time to sharpen his striking, put some muscles on him, and i think he will surprise a lot of people.

 

[Toxic]

He should make the cut, outside Almedia I don't think there are any strong BJJ fighters in the WW division.

 

[TraMaI]

I honestly don't think Almedia's BJJ is anywhere near Demian's... it may have been in the past but not recently.

 

[Toxic]

Almedia is not on the same level in the sense he isn't a great submission grappler, Almedia is damn solid though he just isn't as advanced if you will.

 

[machidaisgod]

Agree, he should be in the WW division, no doubt. He can be WW champion one day, never at MW imho.