After Mark Munoz was forced out of his UFC on FOX bout with Chael Sonnen, the entire middleweight division was shaken up.
With Michael Bisping earning the promotion into the night’s co-main event, former title challenger and submission specialist Demian Maia was left without an opponent for one of the biggest cards that the UFC will put on this year.
Many fans started clamoring for Maia to fight fellow Brazilian and perennial tap-out artist Rousimar Palhares, but when that bout fell through they were left with rising prospect Chris Weidman as the best available option.
Weidman is still relatively unknown among casual fans, and despite what the betting lines say he is still likely going to be viewed as the underdog when the horn sounds this weekend.
Fighting a dangerous former title contender like Maia in just your fourth UFC bout would be a daunting enough task for most young fighters, but when you take the fight on just 10 days notice is a gutsy call.
Weidman is no stranger to taking fights with little time to prepare, as evidenced by his three-round beat down of Alessio Sakara in his UFC debut, and his wrestling based style and relentless pace will save him from gassing out late in the fight.
Weidman’s wrestling is quickly becoming established as some of the best in the UFC, and his time training with Matt Serra has likely done wonders for his BJJ game, but going to the mat with Maia is like dipping yourself in blood and climbing into a shark tank.
Or at least that’s how it used to be.
Maia hasn’t finished an opponent since he tapped out Sonnen almost three years ago, yet Maia still has an aura that surrounds him and makes fighters fear him on the ground.
This isn’t to say that Maia is incapable of locking in a trademark submission at some point during the bout, but it seems that fighters have figured out how to stifle his offensive BJJ at this point.
A win over Demian Maia would be a huge step forward in Weidman’s quest for a UFC title shot, and “The All-American” has all of the tools to make it happen this weekend.
While he is unlikely to finish Maia by submission like he has his last two opponents, he should be able to put the jiu-jitsu ace on his back and keep him their for the duration of the bout, likely scoring with some ground-and-pound to keep busy.
It won’t be the prettiest fight, and it might make some first time viewers a bit critical of the sport, but if Weidman wants to take that next step up in the middleweight division he only has to do one thing.
Just win, baby.
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