Tag: demianmaia

MMA Top 10 Middleweights: Mark Munoz Rises

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, MiddleweightsCould Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question…

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Could Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva‘s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question.

After defeating Maia, Munoz is 6-1 since moving down to middleweight, with the only loss coming by split decision to Yushin Okami, the UFC‘s current No. 1 middleweight contender. Munoz is probably only one more win away from being the UFC’s best option to fight Silva, assuming Silva beats Okami.

Munoz would be a huge underdog to Silva, of course, but every middleweight is a huge underdog to Silva. And Munoz, a former NCAA champion wrestler, at least has the tools to threaten Silva where he’s weakest. Munoz and Silva are friends and training partners, and they might not wish to fight each other. But if both of them win their next fights, we could be heading toward a situation where fighting each other is what the UFC asks them to do.

See where I have Munoz ranked among the middleweights in MMA below.

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did middleweights are in parentheses.)

1. Anderson Silva (1): The last time Silva lost, it was by disqualification when he illegally kicked Okami in the head on the ground. Since then Silva is 14-0, with half of those wins coming by first round knockout or technical knockout.

2. Chael Sonnen (2): Sonnen still deserves to be ranked No. 2 because of his impressive win over Okami and his tough fight with Silva, but soon he’s going to start dropping because of inactivity. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for Sonnen’s problems getting an athletic commission to license him.

3. Vitor Belfort (3): Belfort’s 19-9 record really doesn’t do his career justice, as the nine losses are to a who’s who of great fighters: He’s lost to Randy Couture twice, Alistair Overeem twice and Kazushi Sakuraba, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva. Up next for Belfort is Yoshihiro Akiyama.

4. Yushin Okami (4): Although Okami does technically have a victory over Silva on his record, Silva was getting the better of Okami before he was disqualified for the illegal kick. If Okami can beat Silva in their August rematch in Rio, it would probably be the biggest upset of the year in MMA.

5. Mark Munoz (NR): Getting knocked cold by Matt Hamill might have been the best thing to ever happen to Munoz. That fight made him decide to move down from 205 pounds to 185, and he’s much more impressive at the lighter weight.

6. Demian Maia (5): The Maia-Munoz fight could have gone either way, and even in defeat Maia showed that his striking is continuing to improve. However, the fight also showed that Maia can’t just submit anyone he gets to the ground. In his first five UFC fights Maia submitted all five opponents, but in his last six fights he hasn’t submitted anyone.

7. Brian Stann (6): A matchup between Stann and Munoz would make a lot of sense as a next step for the UFC, and the winner would have a strong case for being the next No. 1 contender in the middleweight division.

8. Ronaldo Souza (7): Jacare, the Strikeforce middleweight champion, will defend his title against Luke Rockhold in September. Rockhold is 7-1, and all seven wins are by first-round stoppage, but he’s not on the same level as Jacare, who should be able to make Rockhold tap.

9. Wanderlei Silva (8): The soon-to-be 35-year-old Silva isn’t the fighter he once was, but his UFC 132 fight with Chris Leben promises to be an all-out war. And if he wins in spectacular fashion, it’s possible that the Axe Murderer could get the next shot at the middleweight belt.

10. Michael Bisping (10): With no UFC events in England this year, Bisping will not have any fights in his homeland for the first year since 2006, when he was an Ultimate Fighter contestant. Instead Bisping will coach on The Ultimate Fighter and take on Jason “Mayhem” Miller in December.

 

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Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 131

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Due to technical difficulties, Falling Action comes to you a day later than usual, and for that we apologize.

But as long as you haven’t pushed all recollection of UFC 131 out of your mind in order to make room for the beautiful new memories you made on Sunday and Monday – in other words, as long as you have greater brain capacity than a golden retriever – we figure most of you ought to still be able to enjoy a thorough discussion of this past weekend’s winners, losers, and everything in between.

If not, here’s a chew toy. Knock yourself out.

Biggest Winner: Junior dos Santos
We knew the big Brazilian could box even before he turned Shane Carwin’s face into ground beef. What we (okay, I) wondered was, could he stay on his feet and out of the clinch enough to put those skills to work? Against former Division II national champion wrestler Carwin, the answer for dos Santos, much like it is for every question asked of the Kool-Aid Man, was: ohhhhh yeah. He picked Carwin apart with his jab and kept the fight at a safe distance (well, safe for him, extremely dangerous for Carwin). He even showed off some spiffy defensive wrestling on the few occasions where Carwin got in close enough to test him. UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is quicker and more explosive than Carwin, so that will be a different kind of challenge, but dos Santos showed us on Saturday that he’s more than deserving of the shot. Now if only we didn’t have to go six months between major heavyweight fights, this division might actually get somewhere.

Biggest Loser: Shane Carwin
It was as gutsy a performance as you’ll ever see, and with it he proved that he has the cardio and the heart to go the distance. At the same time, the closest he came to being competitive in this fight was when he landed one solitary left hook that made JDS go wobbly, and even then he couldn’t get close enough to follow up. Carwin did the one thing he couldn’t afford to do in this fight, which was hang out at the end of dos Santos’ jab. He got into a boxing match with a superior boxer, and the results were about what you’d expect from such a strategy. Again, any man who can take that kind of a beating and still keep coming is so tough that he borders on being mentally ill, so give Carwin his props for that. At the same time, he’s 36 years old and in the past eleven months he’s lost one title shot and one no. 1 contender fight. It’s starting to look like that interim title might be the only UFC belt he’s ever going to own.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Demian Maia
The Maia of three years ago would have gone into the fight with Mark Munoz looking to pull half-guard right away just to avoid the terrifying world of stand-up fighting as much as possible. That Maia was very good at what he did, but he was also limited. In a losing effort against Munoz he showed that he’s a much more complete fighter now, and he’s only getting better. You could make the argument that he’s a little too content to fight on the feet these days, which leaves his best weapon – his submissions game – tragically under-used. I wouldn’t argue with that, and maybe neither would Maia. My hope is that what we’re seeing now is just the swing of the pendulum as his overall game evolves. Maybe this loss will convince him to find a better balance in the future.

Least Impressive in Victory: Krzysztof Soszynski
In fairness, Mike Massenzio didn’t give him much to work with, but what did we expect? Massenzio took a short-notice fight in the weight class above his own and Soszynski still couldn’t do much more to him than stuff his takedowns and try to set up an offense that came only in short, tentative bursts. True, Massenzio didn’t make for much of a dance partner, but if Soszynski can’t do more with a size advantage like that against a short-notice opponent, that’s a little troubling. He got the decision win, but didn’t bump his stock much higher in the process. Let’s hope his next opponent gives him more to work with.

Most Frightening: Yves Edwards
It wasn’t so much the punch that put him out, but the way he went down that made me cringe. The back of Edwards’ head thudded off the mat with a sickening sound and he lay there motionless for several minutes afterward. That always makes for an unnerving sight, but the 34-year-old Edwards is such a beloved character in this sport that it made it even tougher than usual to sit there and wait for him to show signs of recovery. Those kinds of knockouts are the scariest and probably the most dangerous. The blow Edwards took to the back of the head as a result of the fall seemed much worse and more damaging than the punch itself, and yet there was really nothing anyone could do to prevent it or soften the impact. The referee – or in this case, a compassionate opponent like Stout – can stop a fighter from taking needless punches after he’s out, but nobody can do anything about the effects of gravity on a suddenly unconscious man.

Most Surprising: Dave Herman
Giving up nearly thirty pounds to a monstrous jiu-jitsu specialist, all while claiming that jiu-jitsu “doesn’t work,” didn’t seem like a recipe for success. But to Herman’s credit he took Jon Olav Einemo’s best shots and gave back more than the big man could handle. Less surprising than Herman’s victory was just how fun the fight was to watch. It had so many ups and downs and ebbs and flows that it made eight minutes of fighting feel like twenty. Only, you know, in the good way. Enjoy your Fight of the Night bonus money, gentleman. You both earned it.

The ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ Award: Kenny Florian
The move down to featherweight sounded like a pretty hellish, but business-savvy one for KenFlo. He saw the writing on the wall at lightweight and realized that if he didn’t want to turn into a gatekeeper, he needed to find a fresh start in a new division. The win over a very tough Diego Nunes at 145 pounds accomplished that. He has a new life as a featherweight and will “more than likely” get a crack at Jose Aldo now, according to Dana White. At the same time, a five-round fight with Aldo is going to be a tough night of work. I know Florian wants the challenge, and he might as well find out sooner rather than later if he’s up for it, but I hope he knows what he’s in for when he starves himself for a chance to get in the cage with that little buzz-saw.

Most Charismatic: Mark Munoz
The great thing about Munoz is that he’s a powerful, smash-mouth kind of fighter, but with a Labrador’s enthusiasm for life and everything in it. Even when he’s talking about getting rocked by Maia, his tone and expression suggest that he thought it was kind of fun, like going down a scary water slide. That kind of zeal for everything is infectious, and it makes it impossible not to like him. With the decision over Maia he has three straight victories under his belt, with each win more impressive than the last. He might not ever be champion, or even a top contender, but I can’t honestly say that I care. He’s just so fun to have around. And yeah, he’s a pretty good fighter, too.

 

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Filed under:

Due to technical difficulties, Falling Action comes to you a day later than usual, and for that we apologize.

But as long as you haven’t pushed all recollection of UFC 131 out of your mind in order to make room for the beautiful new memories you made on Sunday and Monday – in other words, as long as you have greater brain capacity than a golden retriever – we figure most of you ought to still be able to enjoy a thorough discussion of this past weekend’s winners, losers, and everything in between.

If not, here’s a chew toy. Knock yourself out.

Biggest Winner: Junior dos Santos
We knew the big Brazilian could box even before he turned Shane Carwin’s face into ground beef. What we (okay, I) wondered was, could he stay on his feet and out of the clinch enough to put those skills to work? Against former Division II national champion wrestler Carwin, the answer for dos Santos, much like it is for every question asked of the Kool-Aid Man, was: ohhhhh yeah. He picked Carwin apart with his jab and kept the fight at a safe distance (well, safe for him, extremely dangerous for Carwin). He even showed off some spiffy defensive wrestling on the few occasions where Carwin got in close enough to test him. UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is quicker and more explosive than Carwin, so that will be a different kind of challenge, but dos Santos showed us on Saturday that he’s more than deserving of the shot. Now if only we didn’t have to go six months between major heavyweight fights, this division might actually get somewhere.


Biggest Loser: Shane Carwin
It was as gutsy a performance as you’ll ever see, and with it he proved that he has the cardio and the heart to go the distance. At the same time, the closest he came to being competitive in this fight was when he landed one solitary left hook that made JDS go wobbly, and even then he couldn’t get close enough to follow up. Carwin did the one thing he couldn’t afford to do in this fight, which was hang out at the end of dos Santos’ jab. He got into a boxing match with a superior boxer, and the results were about what you’d expect from such a strategy. Again, any man who can take that kind of a beating and still keep coming is so tough that he borders on being mentally ill, so give Carwin his props for that. At the same time, he’s 36 years old and in the past eleven months he’s lost one title shot and one no. 1 contender fight. It’s starting to look like that interim title might be the only UFC belt he’s ever going to own.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Demian Maia
The Maia of three years ago would have gone into the fight with Mark Munoz looking to pull half-guard right away just to avoid the terrifying world of stand-up fighting as much as possible. That Maia was very good at what he did, but he was also limited. In a losing effort against Munoz he showed that he’s a much more complete fighter now, and he’s only getting better. You could make the argument that he’s a little too content to fight on the feet these days, which leaves his best weapon – his submissions game – tragically under-used. I wouldn’t argue with that, and maybe neither would Maia. My hope is that what we’re seeing now is just the swing of the pendulum as his overall game evolves. Maybe this loss will convince him to find a better balance in the future.

Least Impressive in Victory: Krzysztof Soszynski
In fairness, Mike Massenzio didn’t give him much to work with, but what did we expect? Massenzio took a short-notice fight in the weight class above his own and Soszynski still couldn’t do much more to him than stuff his takedowns and try to set up an offense that came only in short, tentative bursts. True, Massenzio didn’t make for much of a dance partner, but if Soszynski can’t do more with a size advantage like that against a short-notice opponent, that’s a little troubling. He got the decision win, but didn’t bump his stock much higher in the process. Let’s hope his next opponent gives him more to work with.

Most Frightening: Yves Edwards
It wasn’t so much the punch that put him out, but the way he went down that made me cringe. The back of Edwards’ head thudded off the mat with a sickening sound and he lay there motionless for several minutes afterward. That always makes for an unnerving sight, but the 34-year-old Edwards is such a beloved character in this sport that it made it even tougher than usual to sit there and wait for him to show signs of recovery. Those kinds of knockouts are the scariest and probably the most dangerous. The blow Edwards took to the back of the head as a result of the fall seemed much worse and more damaging than the punch itself, and yet there was really nothing anyone could do to prevent it or soften the impact. The referee – or in this case, a compassionate opponent like Stout – can stop a fighter from taking needless punches after he’s out, but nobody can do anything about the effects of gravity on a suddenly unconscious man.

Most Surprising: Dave Herman
Giving up nearly thirty pounds to a monstrous jiu-jitsu specialist, all while claiming that jiu-jitsu “doesn’t work,” didn’t seem like a recipe for success. But to Herman’s credit he took Jon Olav Einemo’s best shots and gave back more than the big man could handle. Less surprising than Herman’s victory was just how fun the fight was to watch. It had so many ups and downs and ebbs and flows that it made eight minutes of fighting feel like twenty. Only, you know, in the good way. Enjoy your Fight of the Night bonus money, gentleman. You both earned it.

The ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ Award: Kenny Florian
The move down to featherweight sounded like a pretty hellish, but business-savvy one for KenFlo. He saw the writing on the wall at lightweight and realized that if he didn’t want to turn into a gatekeeper, he needed to find a fresh start in a new division. The win over a very tough Diego Nunes at 145 pounds accomplished that. He has a new life as a featherweight and will “more than likely” get a crack at Jose Aldo now, according to Dana White. At the same time, a five-round fight with Aldo is going to be a tough night of work. I know Florian wants the challenge, and he might as well find out sooner rather than later if he’s up for it, but I hope he knows what he’s in for when he starves himself for a chance to get in the cage with that little buzz-saw.

Most Charismatic: Mark Munoz
The great thing about Munoz is that he’s a powerful, smash-mouth kind of fighter, but with a Labrador’s enthusiasm for life and everything in it. Even when he’s talking about getting rocked by Maia, his tone and expression suggest that he thought it was kind of fun, like going down a scary water slide. That kind of zeal for everything is infectious, and it makes it impossible not to like him. With the decision over Maia he has three straight victories under his belt, with each win more impressive than the last. He might not ever be champion, or even a top contender, but I can’t honestly say that I care. He’s just so fun to have around. And yeah, he’s a pretty good fighter, too.

 

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Mark Munoz Looking to Play ‘Whack-a-Mole’ Against Demian Maia

Filed under: UFCVANCOUVER, British Columbia – For most of Wednesday’s open workout, Mark Munoz did exactly what you’d expect from a NCAA national champion wrestler preparing to face a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt at UFC 131.

He worked on top control…

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – For most of Wednesday’s open workout, Mark Munoz did exactly what you’d expect from a NCAA national champion wrestler preparing to face a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt at UFC 131.

He worked on top control, on ground-and-pound, on extricating himself from sticky situations on the mat. Not a bad idea when you’re fighting submissions expert Demian Maia.

But then Munoz apparently decided to mix it up, and suddenly he was throwing his training partner in triangle chokes and armbars, as if he might actually be considering a submission win of his own. Was this some sort of trick?

“You saw that, huh?” an excited Munoz said once his workout concluded. “My jiu-jitsu is good. I’m here to prove a point, too. I have great jiu-jitsu guys in my gym, and they know my game is great. As of late, you guys haven’t seen my jiu-jitsu game. That’s something I do want to prove.”


But seriously. This is Maia we’re talking about there. There may be no better jiu-jitsu specialist anywhere in MMA’s 185-pound division. Munoz can’t seriously think he’s going to lock that guy into a triangle choke, can he? Is he really thinking about trying an armbar if he looks up and finds Maia in his guard?

“Yeah, what if?” Munoz shrugged. “What if can happen.”

One thing Maia probably isn’t worried about is Munoz’s jiu-jitsu game. The man may have been an All-America wrestler at Oklahoma State, but in MMA he only has one submission win to his credit, and it came as a result of punches. It would seem like his heavy hands – both standing and on the ground – are more of a concern. But Maia doesn’t seem terribly worried about being overpowered on Saturday night.

“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.

Which is not to say he’s in any danger of becoming a knockout artist, however.

“I enjoy [striking], but it’s dangerous,” Maia said. “I enjoy it more in the training than in the fight.”

Munoz, on the other hand, isn’t at all shy about throwing leather. He even prepared with some unconventional training methods, thanks to training partner Mike Guymon, who introduced him to the arcade game Whack-a-Mole.

“You go to Chuck E. Cheese’s and you get these padded paddles, and you see a mole pop up and you whack it,” Munoz said. “…I was like, man, that’s an awesome analogy. I’m going to take that. So I’m playing Whack-a-Mole on Saturday night.”

He may be fighting one of the most skilled jiu-jitsu practitioners in all of MMA, but Munoz doesn’t seem to feel that it will be such a hard adjustment to make after fighting so many fellow collegiate wrestlers in the UFC.

“I’ve been fighting all wrestlers, so this is a big change. I like change. It’s great, because I know what Demian has and I know what I have. You know bombs are going to fly. That’s just me. I’m going to throw bombs and more bombs. Bombs away. That’s what’s going to happen and Demian knows that. No disrespect to him. I have so much respect for him, but this is a business. I’m here to prove a point, and I think he’s afraid of my power.”

At least, Maia’s probably more afraid of Munoz’s power than his triangle choke. But then again, MMA is a sport where the crazy ‘what ifs’ happen from time to time. If Munoz can somehow make Maia tap, he’ll never have to worry about anyone doubting his jiu-jitsu ever again.

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Mark Munoz Still Sees Major Holes in Demian Maia’s Striking

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — MMA Fighting spoke to middleweight Mark Munoz on Wednesday about his UFC 131 fight against Demian Maia, where he would like the fight to play out, his development as a striker, the success of his Reing Training Center gym, his place in the middleweight division and much more.

 

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — MMA Fighting spoke to middleweight Mark Munoz on Wednesday about his UFC 131 fight against Demian Maia, where he would like the fight to play out, his development as a striker, the success of his Reing Training Center gym, his place in the middleweight division and much more.

 

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Munoz vs. Maia Among Bouts Announced for UFC 131

Filed under: UFC, News The card for UFC 131 continues to take shape, with the promotion confirming three new fights early Saturday.

UFC.com reported verbal agreements are in place for a middleweight bout between Mark Munoz and former top contender De…

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The card for UFC 131 continues to take shape, with the promotion confirming three new fights early Saturday.

UFC.com reported verbal agreements are in place for a middleweight bout between Mark Munoz and former top contender Demian Maia; a light heavyweight fight between Anthony Perosh and Krzysztof Soszynski; and a middleweight bout between Jesse Bongfeldt and Court McGee.

Though the UFC has not yet officially announced the event, UFC 131 is expected to take place June 11 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Spirit Renewed, Kendall Grove Ready for Challenge of Demian Maia

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveLAS VEGAS – Kendall Grove has never lost on Spike TV. Remind the UFC middleweight of that, and he has just one thing to say: “Shhhhhh!”

Those Hawaiian islanders have always been a bit superstitious. Just ask the Br…

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LAS VEGAS – Kendall Grove has never lost on Spike TV. Remind the UFC middleweight of that, and he has just one thing to say: “Shhhhhh!”

Those Hawaiian islanders have always been a bit superstitious. Just ask the Bradys. But Grove said he’s not – just maybe cautiously optimistic. “Tell me that after I win,” he said Thursday at The Palms in Las Vegas, site of his Saturday fight against former top middleweight challenger Demian Maia.