Author: Adam Wells

UFC 131 Fight Card Features A Styles Clash Between Demian Maia and Mark Munoz

Demian Maia’s mixed martial arts career was at a crossroads following an embarrassing loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 112. He is one of the best submission fighters in the history of the sport, but he had lost two of his previous three fights following that loss. He knows that his style has to evolve if he wants to get back into championship contention.

From Ben Fowlkes (via MMAFighting.com):

“When I see wrestlers fight, they train a lot of boxing because they don’t want to end up on bottom,” Maia said. “I don’t have this issue. I know he’s very powerful when he’s on top, but I’m okay with that. I don’t think it’s going to be just a stand-up fight.”

Even if it is, however, Maia wouldn’t necessarily run from that. Earlier in his career he rushed to get opponents to the mat because, as Maia put it, he was “really afraid” of standing and trading punches. Now he’s more comfortable on the feet, even if his decision to contest more fights there has led to fewer submission wins lately.

“Now I’m more relaxed, so I think sometimes I don’t put enough on the ground to submit [them]. I think it’s just, I’m changing my style and it will come back,” he said.

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Maia is still not a great striker, and he probably never will be, but if he can reach a point where his stand-up game isn’t a weakness, he will be very dangerous.

He is sacrificing some elements of his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills by trying to become more adept at the stand-up, but when you suffer a loss like he did against Silva you are going to try anything.

Munoz presents an interesting challenge because despite his solid wrestling background, he is more comfortable standing and trading with opponents.

If Maia wanted the perfect fight to test his stand-up skills, this is it. I look for him to stand and trade with Munoz for a round to see how far his skills have come. If he looks good, he will continue to do it. If he doesn’t, or if he finds himself falling behind in points, he will use his BJJ to grind out a victory.

Either way, I see Maia winning this fight via decision in a very close fight.

UFC 131 Is Going To Be Junior Dos Santos’s Stage To Shine On, But Will A Win Really Mean That Much?

Junior dos Santos earned a UFC heavyweight championship match with his performance against Roy Nelson at UFC 117 last August. He has been one of the best heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts for some time, and now he was going to get his shot at the belt. But at UFC 131, he is going against Shane Carwin who will not be at the top of his game due to a serious neck injury that required surgery late last year.

Dos Santos was originally supposed to go up against Brock Lesnar, but Lesnar had to pull out when his diverticulitis returned. That would have been a much better fight for dos Santos to show what he is capable of doing against an elite heavyweight.

Carwin was an elite heavyweight before his surgery, but we have no idea what kind of shape he is going to be in. So what does a win over Carwin really tell us about dos Santos?

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I don’t think that it will tell us much. Carwin is a big name, which will look good on the resume, but it doesn’t give us a strong indication of how prepared he is for Velasquez.

I could be wrong. Carwin could come out and look like a world-beater in the first-round of this fight. If that turns out to be the case, this fight would turn into a heavyweight war. But there are too many questions.

Dos Santos is not only supposed to win this fight, but he is supposed to dominate. If he does, well that’s what he was supposed to do. If he doesn’t, people will question his ability to challenge the top heavyweight fighter in the world.

There is a lot more at stake in this fight for Dos Santos than Carwin. I see dos Santos winning via knockout early. It will look good, but it won’t have the same impact as him knocking out Lesnar.

UFC 131 Fight Card Will Feature Shane Carwin’s Return To The Octagon, But What Kind Of Shape Is He In?

Shane Carwin was one of the most dangerous heavyweight fighters in the world. His career record is 12-1 with all 12 victories coming in the first-round – seven via (T)KO, five via submission – but he was exposed in his fight against Brock Lesnar at UFC 116. He is a guy that has to end the fight early or he is in trouble.

Carwin’s strength as a fighter has come from his power with his punches. But if you saw his interview on the finale of The Ultimate Fighter last week, he looks like a completely different man. He looked really small and was nowhere near close to fighting shape.

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He is coming off a very serious neck injury, known as spinal stenosis. For those WWE fans out there, that is the same problem that forced Stone Cold Steve Austin and Edge to retire. Now, Carwin is looking to fight against Junior dos Santos, one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world, seven months after the surgery.

Carwin doesn’t have a lot of hope entering this fight. If it goes longer than one round, he is in trouble. He has to end this fight early, if he is going to win. I don’t see how he is going to do it. There is no way his power is going to be all the way back. His stamina is not going to be better now than it was last July, when he gassed out late in the first-round.

There are just too many what ifs for Carwin coming into this fight. He may never be the same fighter again following this injury.

Maybe he can prove the doubters wrong. Maybe he can shock everyone and knock dos Santos out. It makes for a great story if he does, but the chances of it happening are slim-to-none.