September is all about the heavyweights in the UFC, and it gets started on Saturday, when Andrei Arlovski (25-12, 1 NC) meets Josh Barnett (34-8) at UFC Fight Night 93.
The Hamburg, Germany, event is headlined by the heavyweight clash, and both men are…
September is all about the heavyweights in the UFC, and it gets started on Saturday, when Andrei Arlovski (25-12, 1 NC) meets Josh Barnett (34-8) at UFC Fight Night 93.
The Hamburg, Germany, event is headlined by the heavyweight clash, and both men are looking to get back in the win column.
Arlovski will try to avoid a third straight loss. His prior two, to now-champion Stipe Miocic and current title challenger Alistair Overeem, were both knockout losses. A loss to Barnett would be detrimental to Arlovski’s fading title hopes.
Barnett was upended by Ben Rothwell in January. He has not lost back-to-back fights since dropping two in a row to Mirko Cro Cop in 2004 and 2005.
The pair of former UFC champions are seeing their window of opportunity slowly close. Saturday’s main event will be a pivotal bout, but who has the edge? Bleacher Report breaks down the matchup from head to toe in the preview of UFC Fight Night 93’s main event.
Take a peek at the heavyweight tilt coming your way this weekend.
The UFC takes the Octagon north of the border this Saturday, August 27, for UFC on Fox 21.
The event will be headlined by a welterweight contest between top contenders Carlos Condit and Demian Maia. Condit is coming off an abortive title run, while Mai…
The UFC takes the Octagon north of the border this Saturday, August 27, for UFC on Fox 21.
The event will be headlined by a welterweight contest between top contenders Carlos Condit and Demian Maia. Condit is coming off an abortive title run, while Maia enters riding a five-fight win streak. Either man could insert his name into contention talk by emerging with the W.
Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will face off with Charles Oliveira in the night’s co-main event. Since being dethroned, Pettis has dropped two additional contests, meaning he’ll enter the bout on a three-fight losing streak.
A couple of years ago, such a scenario would have seemed unfathomable, but Pettis‘ back is now against the wall. His situation is especially dire because his opponent, Oliveira, has been hot lately, winning five of six. A victory over Pettis would mark the grandest accomplishment of the Brazilian’s career.
Rounding out the UFC on Fox 21 main card is Paige VanZant vs. BecRawlings, and Joe Lauzon vs. Jim Miller.
So who’s going to emerge victorious on Saturday? Can Maia force Condit into a grappling match, or will Condit score the knockout? Will Pettis rebound or will Oliveira keep building momentum? Will VanZant rebound from her first UFC loss, or will Rawlings advance her win streak to three? How will Lauzon vs. Miller, a battle of journeymen, play out?
Here to provide you with our best guesses is Scott Harris, Sydnie Jones, Nathan McCarter, Steven Rondina and Craig Amos. Read on.
No UFC official has publicly stated the winner of Saturday’s bout between Carlos Condit and Demian Maia will receive the next welterweight title shot.
Unless, that is, you count Demian Maia as an official.
He probably—well, actually—doesn’t…
No UFC official has publicly stated the winner of Saturday’s bout between Carlos Condit and Demian Maia will receive the next welterweight title shot.
Unless, that is, you count Demian Maia as an official.
He probably—well, actually—doesn’t count as an official, but Maia believes a win over Condit in the main event of UFC on Fox 21 will earn him a shot at UFC welterweight gold.
“This is for a title shot—the ticket for a title shot,” Maia told Bleacher Report in an interview. “It’s a fight between two guys; one is a former champ, and the other has five wins in a row.”
The former champ is Condit (30-9), the wildly popular and entertaining fighter who wore the interim strap in 2012—and came within a half-round of donning the belt again after a January thriller with Robbie Lawler. He’s the razor-sharp finisher who has knocked out 15 opponents and gone the distance exactly two times in all his professional wins.
“The other” is Maia. The former jiu-jitsu world champ and eight-year UFC veteran (23-6) has, at age 38, done nothing less than resurrect his career after dropping down from middleweight in 2012. He has 11 wins by submission.
So if this is one of those blue-plate striker-grappler specials, it’s easy to tell which side Maia’s on.
“I think you know we’re going to grapple,” Maia said. “We’re going to the ground. He’s good there, but hopefully I’m able to impose my game.”
Despite the bona fides of both men—to top it off, Maia is ranked third and Condit fourth on the official UFC rankings—no title shot is assured for either man in the event of a win. Part of that stems from the fact Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson appears to be next in line to face current champ Tyron Woodley, according to comments from UFC President Dana White.
The potential return of Georges St-Pierre, according to Big Brand Boys (via Andy Ravens of LowKickMMA.com), and the role of Lawler, who lost to Woodley in July, further muddy the waters.
But even if Thompson-Woodley becomes official, that doesn’t necessarily preclude the Condit-Maia winner from receiving the next shot.
So why are these two greats on the outside, at least for the moment? When it comes to Maia, there’s a descriptor his fighting style has been labeled with; it rhymes with “schmoring.” Maia has a ready response to the charge.
“I’m a fighter who is mainly a grappler, but I have a different style than other grapplers,” Maia said. “I think my mindset is different. The new techniques are just evolving, and I look for that. I’m not just a jiu-jitsu player for jiu-jitsu, but for MMA.”
What’s more, Maia’s gentlemanly demeanor, while admired, is not the sort that beckons patrons into the tent. Maia has an answer for that, too.
“I think true fans look for people who inspire them—not just inspire them like with [silly] stuff but truly inspire them. It’s what they’re looking for when they’re watching sports,” Maia said. “It’s not just to beat somebody or make money, which was not even possible at the time I [started].”
There’s just one more problem for Maia as it relates to reaching that title shot. In July, his bout with Condit moved to the UFC on Fox 21 main event from last week’s UFC 202. That changed not only the date but the rounds, bumping them up from three to five. That’s more potential cage time and, by extension, more potential cardio. That’s not a specialty Maia has typically been known to have.
Still, Maia says he’s ready, and it’s not shaking his conviction in himself or the meaning of a win on Saturday.
“Training camp changed a little bit,” he said of his adjustments after the change in fight date. “Follow-up after rounds, and duration of rounds, making me more prepared.
“I don’t respond [to detractors]. I just go out there and do my job. If I win this, that’s the best response.”
Scott Harris covers MMA for Bleacher Report and is available on Twitter. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
When Carlos Condit and Demian Maia square off Saturday at UFC on Fox 21, it’s entirely possible a welterweight title shot will hang in the balance.
That makes sense. Maia (23-6) has more degrees on his black belt than most professors have on their offi…
When Carlos Condit and Demian Maia square off Saturday at UFC on Fox 21, it’s entirely possible a welterweight title shot will hang in the balance.
That makes sense. Maia (23-6) has more degrees on his black belt than most professors have on their office walls. A career resurgence put the 38-year-old grappling legend on a five-fight win streak entering this contest.
Condit (30-9) is 1-2 over the past couple of years. But hold the phone. One of those losses happened because of a freak injury suffered against future champ TyronWoodley in 2014. The other came to then-champ Robbie Lawler early this year in a close-as-can-be affair most believe will be Fight of the Year when 2016 shuffles off stage.
These are two great fighters who appear to be at the tops of their games. No surprise, then, that Odds Shark had the bout even as of Wednesday morning.
With a bout this close, every tiny thing plays a role. So what are the key factors? The striking of Condit versus the grappling of Maia? The six-year age difference between the two?
Nope. The key lies in the calendar.
The UFC scheduling calendar, to be exact. As fans may recall, Condit-Maia was originally set to appear on last Saturday’s UFC 202 card. But just more than a month ago, UFC brass moved the fight to the top of UFC on Fox 21.
No big deal until you remember that every UFC main event is five rounds. This scheduling change extended this fight from three rounds to five, adding 10 minutes of potential runway to this matchup.
In 23 UFC fights, Maia—who, again, is 38 years old—has entered the “championship” round on three occasions and has a 1-2 record on said occasions. He has done it only once in the past three years.
The 32-year-old Condit has competed past the third round five times in his pro career, most recently earlier this year in that epic with Lawler. Most observers had Lawler taking the final round, with Condit grabbing Round 4. Despite that, Condit was the fresher man at the end, with a wild finish almost stealing the final round and the belt.
“Condit fought back like no one else could,” wrote Bloody Elbow’s Connor Ruebusch of the bout’s final moments. “Somehow he stayed on his feet, eating punch after punch but refusing to go down. Still not recovered, he came after Lawler with combinations as the exhausted champion checked the clock, wondering how a minute-and-a-half could feel so long.”
Bottom line: Condit is known for waging five-round battles and having the cardio to do it. Maia? Less so. Although the Brazilian’s ground skills are not in dispute, he is not a black belt in the ways of endurance.
You know who knows all this? One Carlos Condit. He knows a five-round fight is a big check mark in the Condit column.
“I feel like it gives me more opportunity to do what I need to do in this fight,” Condit said recently on Toe-2-Toe with Brian Stann (h/t MMA Fighting). “Which is create openings to implement my game against a very tough guy to fight.”
Condit‘s game is famous for its razor-sharp, take-no-prisoners punch-kick combinations. But there’s so much more refinement to it than that. He’s no slouch on the ground, but in cases where he has a distinct disadvantage there, Condit can work behind his jab for a stick-and-move effect (perfect for facing Maia, who is decent but chopping and slow as a striker).
Keep off the ground, stay on your bicycle and make Maia catch you. That tires Maia out and increases the likelihood of a long-running bout. Both of those just might skew a close bout in favor of Condit.
After an epic month highlighted by a dramatic main event in UFC 202, the UFC is looking forward to an action-packed September with a card on every Saturday in the month. The biggest, of course, is its next pay-per-view, UFC 203.
The full card is as fol…
After an epic month highlighted by a dramatic main event in UFC 202, the UFC is looking forward to an action-packed September with a card on every Saturday in the month. The biggest, of course, is its next pay-per-view, UFC 203.
The order of the bouts is yet to be officially announced past the top three fights, but Bleacher Report is set to give you an early preview of the five biggest bouts of the night.
UFC 202 delivered on all fronts.
Nine of the 12 fights ended with finishes, and the main event between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz went five full rounds of back-and-forth fisticuffs. Every fan should be pleased after Saturday’s slate of fights.
McGreg…
UFC 202 delivered on all fronts.
Nine of the 12 fights ended with finishes, and the main event between ConorMcGregor and Nate Diaz went five full rounds of back-and-forth fisticuffs. Every fan should be pleased after Saturday’s slate of fights.
McGregor got the majority decision over Diaz, but it was not easy. Diaz perhaps came closest to finishing the fight with his third-round flurry before the bell. Regardless, McGregor evened up the series at one apiece.
Also victorious were Anthony Johnson and Donald Cerrone. Each put on a fantastic showing against top-level competition in Glover Teixeira and Rick Story, respectively.
UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby now have the difficult task to match each of the 24 fighters with another opponent for later this year.
Bleacher Report is here to help.
Who is the right fit for each athlete following the UFC’s latest event? Dear readers, click on the next slide button for the answer.
No UFC official has publicly stated the winner of Saturday’s bout between Carlos Condit and