5 Opponents Who Could Welcome Demian Maia to the UFC Welterweight Division

Earlier today, Demian Maia tweeted the following:Guys, now I ll moving down to 170 pounds. Next fight I ll be a welterw[ei]ght @ufcMaia has struggled recently, posting a 4-4 record over his last eight middleweight contests. The drop to welterweigh…

Earlier today, Demian Maia tweeted the following:

Guys, now I ll moving down to 170 pounds. Next fight I ll be a welterw[ei]ght 

Maia has struggled recently, posting a 4-4 record over his last eight middleweight contests. The drop to welterweight should mitigate the size disadvantage he has faced against some larger opponents in the past, such as Anderson Silva and Mark Munoz.

Demian Maia’s drop to welterweight creates a handful of intriguing matchup possibilities for the Brazilian native. The following are five of the most intriguing. 

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UFC Debate: Who Has the Upper Hand in Demetrious Johnson & Ian McCall Rematch?

Ian McCall (aka “Uncle Creepy”) recently dished out his opinion on his recent bout with fellow flyweight Demetrius Johnson that resulted in a draw.Following the match, UFC president Dana White came out and said the match was not scored properly, result…

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Ian McCall (aka “Uncle Creepy”) recently dished out his opinion on his recent bout with fellow flyweight Demetrius Johnson that resulted in a draw.

Following the match, UFC president Dana White came out and said the match was not scored properly, resulting in a draw.  McCall felt confident after the third round that he had won the match, saying it wasn’t until the judges lined them up that he felt that he had not won the match.

Uncle Creepy says there will be no messing around in the rematch, which he is hoping will happen in April so that he can win the belt he deserves.  

Top Bleacher Report contributors debate who will have the upper hand in the Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall rematch.  Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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Demian Maia: Why the Drop to Welterweight Will Help Him Challenge for UFC Gold

Demian Maia has a secret. In 2009, Maia placed that secret in a strong box, which he latched with a combination lock. He then took the box and locked it in a safe, which he equipped with the most powerful cloaking device money can buy.After fully outfi…

Demian Maia has a secret. In 2009, Maia placed that secret in a strong box, which he latched with a combination lock. He then took the box and locked it in a safe, which he equipped with the most powerful cloaking device money can buy.

After fully outfitting this secret, Maia had it rushed to an undisclosed location under the cover of night and 100 armed guards. The secret was then loaded into a rocket and blasted into outer space. 

For years, the secret has orbited Earth, seeking the coverage of passing meteors in an attempt to foil any telescopic activity from the home planet.

But now, rumor has it, the secret is set to fall through our planet’s atmosphere. It is coming back to Earth and will be revealed for all to see!

The secret? Demian Maia is good at jiu-jitsu.

Fans with particularly strong memories may recall Maia arriving in the UFC to the tune of five consecutive submission victories. This was before he decided to keep his ground-game a secret.

Since that time, Maia has compiled a pedestrian 4-4 record, never stringing together more than two wins at any time, and never once finishing a fight.

The bulk of criticism directed at Maia came after his sloppy performance against middleweight prospect Chris Weidman at UFC on Fox 2 this past January.

While the outing was perhaps Maia’s worst to date, save for the 21-second knockout loss against Nate Marquardt back in August of 2009, it was more than an off-night. It was the culmination of a plummeting decline.

Though it is undeniable Maia has had to deal with a particularly tough schedule over his last eight contests, the losses themselves are not the most troubling aspect of the mediocre results he has managed. What is troublesome is not necessarily the manner in which Maia has been losing, but rather the manner in which he has been fighting.

Rather than emptying his clip, attempting to take the fight to the mat where he owns an advantage over any opponent in the division, Maia has seemed content—nay, eager—to keep things standing.

While he recently exhibited boxing technique that has come a long way since his UFC debut, his striking has done little for the overall progression of his career.

Instead of using his newly developed capabilities to complement his wizardly jiu-jitsu, Maia has insisted on doing his best “Sugar” Ray Robinson impression inside the cage, every time he steps into it.

Unfortunately for Maia, his Robinson impression is only slightly better than my Dr. Evil impression.

Riiiiiiiight.

Maia has made the decision to drop to welterweight for his next contest, which still lacks a venue and opponent. But regardless of who it is against or where this fight takes place, it should signify the return of the Demian Maia that burst onto the UFC scene, submitting opponents with an ease rarely seen in high-level competitions.

If you do not see the correlation between the drop in weight and the return of Maia’s ground game, stay with me a moment.

Of Maia’s four UFC losses, three have come against fighters with a wrestling base. The other was against Anderson Silva, so he gets a mulligan there. Though one may expect wrestlers to find themselves in over their heads against a jiu-jitsu master such as Maia, his inability to crack the style can be easily explained.

The Brazilian has always been on the small side of middleweight. He lacks a wrestling background. He is not strong in the clinch. All of these deficiencies suggest an inability to take the fight to the mat. Especially against fighters apt at avoiding being put on their back.

But why the lack of effort?

It is quite possible that in addition to falling head-over-heels for boxing, Maia has entered the majority of his contests with a disbelief that he is capable of taking the fight to the mat.

His drop to welterweight, a decision that in itself implies Maia is ready to make some changes, will give him a size and strength edge over some opponents that he has never had before.

While these attributes are useful for a number of reasons in MMA, one that cannot be overlooked is their role in allowing the possessor to take his counterpart to the canvas.

Additionally, the UFC’s welterweight division is home to a great quantity of top contenders who base their success on controlling opponents on the ground. Charlie Brenneman, Rick Story, Jon Fitch, Mike Pierce, Jake Shields and Georges St-Pierre all come to mind. 

The difference between this list and the top wrestlers at middleweight is that many 185ers used their wrestling in reverse against Maia, whereas he may actually have a striking advantage over these welterweights.

Maia, who is now the owner of the division’s most impressive jiu-jitsu credentials, may just throw a wrench in a lot of these fellows’ plans, if they hope to grind him to a decision rather than trying out their seldom-used boxing.

At 34 years old, Maia’s drop to 170 pounds signifies his last chance for a second UFC championship bout. Whether or not he can capitalize depends entirely on his ability to foster the implicit advantages he has garnered by the move to welterweight.

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UFC 146 Gets Fifth Heavyweight Bout Added to Main Card

The marquee division in combat sports will be in the spotlight for UFC 146, as a fifth heavyweight bout between Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt was finalized by Dana White and added to the main card, according to Yahoo’s Cagewriter Kevin Iole. Both Hu…

The marquee division in combat sports will be in the spotlight for UFC 146, as a fifth heavyweight bout between Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt was finalized by Dana White and added to the main card, according to Yahoo’s Cagewriter Kevin Iole.

Both Hunt and Struve enter the bout having come off impressive victories. Hunt defeated Cheick Kongo in the first round at UFC 144 while Struve stopped Dave Herman at UFC on Fuel TV 1.

The pay-per-view event is set to go down on May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be headlined by a title fight between UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

Dos Santos won the title when he knocked out Cain Velasquez in November. His UFC career consists of eight victories, five of which came by knockout.

Overeem is currently riding an 11-fight win streak with wins over Fabricio Werdum, Brock Lesnar and Brett Rogers. He brings a 36-11 record that consists of 15 knockouts and 19 submission wins.

Also on the card is a bout between former champions Frank Mir and Velasquez. Mir is coming off his stunning submission win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira while Velasquez will look to rebound from the first loss of his career.

Other heavyweight bouts on the main card include Antonio Silva vs. Roy Nelson and Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane del Rosario.

Tickets for UFC 146 will be on sale March 30.

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UFC’s Demian Maia Smartly Decides to Move to Welterweight

Grappling wizard Demian Maia has decided to move to welterweight.Per Maia’s Twitter account:Guys, now I ll moving down to 170 pounds. Next fight I ll be a welterwheight @ufcThis is a really smart decision for Maia for several reasons.He’s already fough…

Grappling wizard Demian Maia has decided to move to welterweight.

Per Maia’s Twitter account:

Guys, now I ll moving down to 170 pounds. Next fight I ll be a welterwheight @ufc

This is a really smart decision for Maia for several reasons.

He’s already fought Anderson Silva for the middleweight title, and we all remember how that one went.

I’d wager that not a single person in the entire world wants to see Maia fight Silva again after the atrocity they put on way back at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. That fight will go down in history as one of the worst UFC pay-per-view main events of all time, and there’s zero chance Dana White will give the pair a chance to reprise that mistake.

So no, Maia has zero chance at ever getting another middleweight title shot as long as Silva is the champion, and the Spider isn’t really slowing down despite his advancing age. That’s reason enough for Maia to drop to welterweight.

And Maia isn’t really a big middleweight. Compared with other hulking middleweights in the division, Maia cuts very little to make the weight class. Making the move to 170 will be a more difficult process, but it should also give him a bit of a size advantage on everyone not named Thiago Alves. Because, you know, that guy is actually a light heavyweight.

My only request for Maia as he makes this momentous career decision? Please start using your jiu-jitsu a little bit more.

I know you want to show your newly developed striking skills, and I can respect that. But you’re still not a very good striker, while you are one of the best in the world at taking dudes to the ground and submitting them with ease. 

Please start doing more of that. We’d appreciate it.

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MMA: Do Quinton "Rampage" Jackson’s Complaints Against the UFC Make Sense?

I’ll be honest. It feels strange not having a UFC event in the immediate future to write about. As much as we fans complain about the multitude of UFC events (and the resulting non-multitude of dollar bills in our bank account) it was kind of …

I’ll be honest. It feels strange not having a UFC event in the immediate future to write about. As much as we fans complain about the multitude of UFC events (and the resulting non-multitude of dollar bills in our bank account) it was kind of neat looking forward to MMA as often as you would a regular sport, like hockey or “Full Metal Jousting.”

We’re in the doldrums of the MMA news cycle, with nothing to write about but the Meisha Tate-Ronda Rousey spat (wait, wasn’t that last week? Or the week before?) and referees who hate Joe Warren’s brain cells.

Oh, and “The Ultimate Fighter.” I heard that was back on. And luckily, Dakota Cochrane, who (in)famously was outed as a gay porn actor, lost his fight to get into the house—meaning you can now watch the exploits of 16 ripped, shitless studs living in a house together and occasionally dousing each other in bodily fluid completely secure in your masculinity.

And then there’s Quentin “Rampage” Jackson. For a guy who’s seemingly on the way out (of the UFC, or MMA—take your pick) he’s been in the news an awful lot lately. The reason? Jackson is none too happy with the UFC, and he’s letting his employers know in the usual fashion: via every MMA media outlet that sticks a mic in his face.

So, for your benefit folks, I’ve compiled a list of Rampage’s grievances with the UFC. I know a lot of folks have expressed displeasure, disagreement or most commonly, confusion at some of Jackson’s remarks. I’ll admit, that was my first reaction as well.

Then, I stayed up all night fasting and pounding Red Bulls, and the picture suddenly became a whole lot clearer. Also, I now like house music for some reason. So without further ado, here’s Rampage’s case against the UFC, as best as I can fathom it.

1. “Why are you giving me wrestlers that are gonna take me down and hump me?”

This is Jackson’s latest complaint, and it makes perfect sense coming from him. He’s a devout Christian, “God’s Street Soldier” (yes, God has “Street Soldiers”—Zeus showed you can have all the fancy artillery and air support you want, but without boots on the ground, your religion’s going the way of lawnmower worship), and, thus, has no inclination to get “humped” by another man.

But more than that, Jackson is angry with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, for making Rampage fight all these lay and prayers! The fans want to see a fight, damnit! And besides, in a division featuring Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Dan Henderson, a Karate guy with solid wrestling of his own and “Shogun” freakin’ Rua, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a non-wrestler for ol’ Quinton!

Oh, he’s facing Shogun next? Splendid. That leads us right into grievance No. 2.

2. “I WANT MY BELT BACK!!!!!”

See, while Jackson isn’t interested in facing any wrestlers, he does want to eventually get his UFC Light Heavyweight title back. This might seem like a strange contradiction, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

This scenario would have Jackson facing non-wrestlers that he can easily deal with (like Keith Jardine or Forrest Griffin). He would win these fights, then move on to a rematch with Jon Jones, who would be forbidden from using his wrestling—somehow. This would allow Jackson’s picture-perfect striking to dominate Jones standing, just like it did last time.

And Bob’s your uncle, Rampage is the UFC Light Heavyweight champion once again! Or something like that. But before you crack the champagne, hold your horses, because…

3. “the ufc makes billions off us all over the world, n pay us chump change!”

This is a tweet Jackson sent out just a few days ago, and it touches on a longstanding bone of contention between him and the UFC.

Put it this way: If Jackson was as focused on the 0s in his record as he is the 0s in his paycheck, he might still be light heavyweight champion! Oh snap! Yeah, only stayed up till 3:30 AM thinking of that little beaut.

Jackson has always hated the way the “brand” comes first in the UFC and the fighters come second. Guys bust their butts off in the gym for months, go out there and put on the fight of their lives and Dana White pays them peanuts. Or in Rampage’s case, guys get in the gym only when they absolutely have to, put on a stinker, and get paid upwards of six figures.

If only it was like the glory days of Pride, where Japanese promoters tried to pay fighters to throw fights, refused to give any cut of the merchandise and booked fights on two weeks notice. Ah, the good old days.

Still following us? Well not anymore, chump, because here comes…

4. “I’ll go fight for some other show for free. I’ll prove to the fans that I’m not all about money. I’ll go fight for some other show for five dollars.”

That’s verbatim from an interview Rampage gave only yesterday. I’d like to take this moment to recap, if I can:

– Rampage is pissed at being made to fight “boring-ass wrestlers”

– But entertains notion of again wearing title in most wrestle-heavy division in MMA

– Rampage thinks the UFC doesn’t pay him enough money

– But he’s not in it for the money anyways, so…who cares?

That’s a contradiction so complete, so total, that it makes me feel high just trying to wrap my head around it. But then I realized: Jackson is a god-damned hero.

Jackson isn’t in it for the money, because he’d fight for free. We know that. So his complaints about fighter pay weren’t about him, they were about all those other poor schlubs who are grinding away at a living in the UFC. Jackson was speaking up for the little guy and railing against the unfair business practices of evil corporate giant Zuffa.

So, not only is Rampage a communist (my politics professor defined Communism as “everyone getting ‘Anderson Silva money’ even if they are not Anderson Silva”), but he should also start writing for Sherdog.com.

And now we know the only currency Rampage respects is…respect, actually. Real, deep down, true-to-your-soul, support-you-through-anything kind of respect. On a completely unrelated note, I wonder who would have played B.A. in the A-Team movie if Dana White hadn’t taken ‘Page’s phone call after this happened.

5. Jackson doesn’t need the UFC anymore

I realize I’ve been a schmuck throughout this article, and that Rampage is probably on his way to my house right now to run my butt over (and if you are, Mr. Jackson, could you please drive a pickup truck emblazoned with your name, likeness and logo to commit vehicular crime? Because, that’s just awesome). I hope no one takes what I say here to seriously.

Here’s the bottom line: Rampage doesn’t need the UFC anymore. He’s a “name” in his own right, has a prime role in a film franchise (with more opportunities likely) and can draw money and interest in any MMA organization in the world, should he so choose.

And let’s be honest: boasts aside, Rampage isn’t going to win a UFC belt again. He’s likely in the “big fights to ride out the career” phase, and there are fights to fit that bill outside the UFC. Clearly, the motivation and drive just isn’t there for Rampage to be a full-time, elite-level MMA fighter anymore.

He should go into films, take the odd big fight (I hear Ken Shamrock is available) and, to borrow his phrase, do his thang.

But for Pete’s sake, try not to be so all over the place in your interviews. After all, this is the guy who’s run the same “stanky breath” routine on opponents for over a decade—consistency on the microphone isn’t asking all that much, is it?

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