UFC 136’s Demian Maia versus Jorge Santiago was exactly the grappling match everybody expected it to be.
Both fighters were tentative in the beginning and then eventually it went to the floor with Maia in control.
The fight in general was a good controlling grappling exhibition between the two fighters, but Maia was always ahead of Santiago.
Santiago and Maia did have some nice striking when the fight did stand. Unfortunately for the fans they saw the sixth fight to end in decision tonight. Not one has finished early. Maia won by unanimous decision here to earn his ninth UFC victory.
Maia is a top ten middleweight and coming off of a loss against Mark Munoz, this win over Santiago is huge.
Maia will most likely see a top tier opponent again in the near future. A name that sticks out could be Vitor Belfort.
For Santiago, this is his second straight loss in the UFC after his dominating reign in Sengoku and overall he is 1-4 in the UFC. He might earn a third fight in the UFC, and if he does it will be against an easier mid-tier middleweight.
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