Saturday’s UFC 194 was filled with exciting matchups and served as one of the most anticipated events of the year. The welterweight bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson was no exception. Going into the fight, the odds favored Nelson—and the crowd’s favor proved dramatically misplaced.
Maia dominated for all three rounds, landing 218 strikes to Nelson’s six and controlling almost 11 minutes of the 15-minute fight. Nelson spent almost all of his time just trying to survive, with Maia clinging to his back like a monkey or raining down ground-and-pound from mount.
Round 1
Maia shoots for a double leg and transitions to a single leg, but Nelson reverses and gets him down. They stand up almost immediately. Nelson is backed up against the cage. Maia shoots in for a single leg/ankle pick; they scramble, and Maia trips Nelson, who ends up on top in half guard. Maia manages to get to his feet and immediately gets another single-leg takedown. Nelson gets to his feet with his hands still on the mat, and Maia takes his back. Nelson rolls forward, and Maia ends up in full mount on Nelson.
Nelson has never been here before in MMA, and with someone like Maia on top, he’s lost at sea. Maia delivers ground-and-pound until Nelson bridges and comes up to his knees and then feet, with Maia still on his back. Maia has a body triangle as Nelson rolls forward again. They are now flat on the mat. Maia tries to sink in a rear-naked choke, but Nelson defends. Maia goes for an armbar, but Nelson escapes and comes up on top in half guard and gets in a couple of strikes on Maia right before the round ends.
Very hard to get back to your feet once @DemianMaia gets you on the ground! #UFC194 https://t.co/yQaGTg4yH3
— #UFC194 (@ufc) December 13, 2015
Round 2
Nelson’s face shows the damage from Round 1, while Maia looks untouched. Maia shoots in for a single; Nelson sprawls, but they end up on the ground briefly. Maia tries to take his back and manages to get both hooks in as Nelson goes to his knees. Nelson stands again with Maia on his back, maintaining a two-on-one control to prevent chokes. Maia punches him from the back, and Nelson goes back to the mat on his knees and turtles, trying to survive with more than half the round remaining.
Nelson rolls forward and then ends up in Maia’s guard. From half guard, Maia secures control of a leg and reverses Nelson, ending up in Nelson’s butterfly guard. Maia has 104 strikes to Nelson’s five, with one minute left in Round 2. Maia stays on top, throwing punches as Nelson tries to block. Maia scoops the head and takes full mount to ground and pound for the last 10 seconds.
Round 3
Maia shoots for a double leg and turns it into a trip. They get back to the feet; Maia goes for a single leg, and Nelson closes up a guillotine, but Maia escapes and is in Nelson’s half guard. Nelson is somewhat inactive on bottom, while Maia throws some punches and elbows. Nelson gets to his knees, and Maia takes his back and closes the body triangle.
They are flat on the mat, and Nelson protects his face from punches. Maia goes for a rear-naked choke, but Nelson defends. The Brazilian goes for another after some striking and closes it on Nelson’s chin, which Nelson defends. Maia throws up a peace sign with his right hand while striking with his left. Nelson rolls into closed guard but can’t move much in Maia’s body triangle and doesn’t try anything before the bell rings.
The fight was unequivocally Maia’s, as the scores of 30-26, 30-25 and 30-25 indicated. In his post-fight speech, he said:
I’m very happy with my performance. There were a couple of small mistakes but overall I think the scores from the judges showed how dominant I was. We knew that Gunnar was going to be very, very tough because he asked for this fight. Anytime a guy asks to compete against you they usually think they have the advantage. My jiu-jitsu is very good and any time I’m able to show what my coaches and my team are capable of doing I really enjoy it. I’m very healthy coming out of this fight. Hopefully the fans enjoyed the bout and I look forward to doing it for them again soon.
Maia, a fourth-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, has a strong takedown game, particularly single legs, and is excellent at guard passing. He was so dominant on Saturday, however, that he barely had to use it.
His last fight was a victory via rear-naked choke over Neil Magny, but it was his first submission win in more than three years. Lately, Maia’s game plan seems to entail achieving and maintaining mount as his opponent toils, often in utter futility, below him, and that’s what happened at UFC 194. Maia did seem more aggressive, with much more active striking and several submission attempts.
Maia has notable wins over Chael Sonnen, Rick Story, Jon Fitch and Dong Hyun Kim. This victory further solidifies his potential as a top-level contender, despite his lengthy career and older age (38) relative to MMA fighters on average.
Current welterweight champion Robbie Lawler fights fourth-ranked Carlos Condit in January. Could be Maia be next for the winner?
No. 12-ranked Nelson submitted Brandon Thatch with a rear-naked choke at UFC 189 in July and had established himself as a threatening grappler prior to this fight. His reputation is well-earned with 10 submission wins, and a loss to Maia doesn’t negate that much. The Icelander also trains at SBG Ireland with interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor and has a strong Irish fanbase. His only other loss came from a split decision with Story in July.
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