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UFC 156: What’s Next for Demian Maia?

Demian Maia gave Jon Fitch a taste of his own medicine.At UFC 156, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt outwrestled the wrestler en route to a lopsided unanimous decision.Fitch, a perennial welterweight contender, appeared to be caught off guard by Maia’…

Demian Maia gave Jon Fitch a taste of his own medicine.

At UFC 156, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt outwrestled the wrestler en route to a lopsided unanimous decision.

Fitch, a perennial welterweight contender, appeared to be caught off guard by Maia’s takedowns. Once the fight hit the floor, it was nearly impossible to escape the clutches of arguably the best jiu-jitsu artist in all of MMA.

The dominant performance over such a highly respected contender served as an eye-opener for the rest of the welterweight division. Maia isn’t just another run-of-the-mill contender. He poses a significant threat to anyone at 170 pounds, including UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

Maia commented at a post-fight press conference (via MMAWeekly):

I’m very happy because I won, one of the toughest guys in the division and I just remember him losing to GSP and to Johny Hendricks, and I was able to control him. Of course, I always like to submit. I’m training a lot more jiu-jitsu nowadays to submit the fighter and give a good fight for the fans, but sometimes it’s just possible.

The win over Fitch puts Maia directly in the hunt for a UFC title shot. He is likely positioned behind Hendricks, who knocked out Fitch over a year ago.

Hendricks is slated to fight Jake Ellenberger in March at UFC 158, and Maia will be watching with great interest. A Hendricks loss would immediately put his name at the forefront of welterweight contenders.

If Hendricks wins, Maia is probably looking at another fight against a top-10 opponent. Names like Josh Koscheck, Martin Kampmann and Thiago Alves could be on the UFC’s radar.

Maia seems poised to make a serious run in the welterweight division. If his wrestling continues to improve, he could really make things interesting in a potential future showdown with St-Pierre.

It’ll take more than “riddum” to survive a grappling battle with Maia.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 156: What’s Next for Bigfoot Silva After Upsetting Overeem?

At UFC 156, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva reminded the MMA community just how awesome and breathtaking this glorious sport can be. Favored to lose in destructive fashion to muscle-bound, superhero-esque kickboxing extraordinaire Alistair Overeem, Bigfoo…

At UFC 156, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva reminded the MMA community just how awesome and breathtaking this glorious sport can be.

Favored to lose in destructive fashion to muscle-bound, superhero-esque kickboxing extraordinaire Alistair Overeem, Bigfoot cast any preconceptions out the window and smashed the hulking heavyweight in the third and final round.

This finish was dramatic. It was vicious. It was unexpected.

And it was heightened by Bigfoot’s post-knockout rampage.

The Brazilian charged his unconscious foe repeatedly, screaming and flailing in a fit of fury and excitement.

Referee Herb Dean held him back quite spectacularly, but that moment served as one of those chills-inducing times where thing got legitimately scary inside the Octagon.

It. Was. So. Awesome.

Now, if you have read my thoughts on Bigfoot before the Overeem fight, you know I was not particularly sold on him as a fighter.

OK, I thought he sucked.

I was dead wrong.

After knocking Overeem senseless and showing a remarkable passion for the sport (and a knack for trash talk, who knew?), Bigfoot deserves a top opponent in his next outing.

But who?

The heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, already obliterated Bigfoot at UFC 156, and that rematch is not particularly juicy right now.

Furthermore, Strikeforce transfer and consensus top-five heavyweight Daniel Comier is slated to take on Frank Mir at UFC on Fox 7. Cormier, too, already crushed Bigfoot in Strikeforce, anyway, so that bout is also out the window.

That leaves Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum as the only other top-five heavyweights available to fight Bigfoot.

Since Overeem and dos Santos have a bit of history, I think that bout will happen. Now is the time to capitalize on it, and somebody is going down. You do not pass on surefire crowd-pleasers, and I think the UFC will put that fight together in the near future.

So, Bigfoot is left with Fabricio Werdum…only that doesn’t work, either.

Werdum is already slated to fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June, and if Werdum emerges from that bout victorious, he will earn a title shot. On the flip side, if Werdum loses, the UFC is unlikely to match a recent loser with a recent big winner, so that’s a no-go too.

Basically, Bigfoot is in for an extended absence from the Octagon as far as I can see, unless he is fine fighting somebody below his level (which he should not be).

The winner of UFC 159’s matchup between Cheick Kongo vs. Roy Nelson is a reasonable next foe, as is the winner of UFC on Fuel TV 8’s co-main event of Stefan Struve versus Mark Hunt.

So, what’s next for Bigfoot is a lot of training, a lot of feeling good about knocking Overeem senseless and a lot of speculation.

The heavyweight division is in a period of transition right now, and Bigfoot will simply have to wait it out and be ready to check in when Coach Dana White calls on him to enter the game.

For fans of MMA, heavy metal or general absurdity, follow @HunterAHomistek.

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Dana White Wants Frankie Edgar Dropping to 135 Pounds

Any talk of former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar going back up to 155 pounds following his featherweight championship loss to Jose Aldo have been put to rest by UFC president Dana White. Speaking after the UFC 156 superfight between Edgar …

Any talk of former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar going back up to 155 pounds following his featherweight championship loss to Jose Aldo have been put to rest by UFC president Dana White.

Speaking after the UFC 156 superfight between Edgar and Aldo, White said (h/t MMA Junkie), “He’s not going to 55… That’s not going to happen.”

Instead, White suggested, that Edgar could drop down even further and fight at bantamweight instead.

Edgar has long been regarded as an undersized lightweight. At 5’6″ he’s even smaller than featherweight champ Aldo, but like the Rocky Balboa of the sport, he’s managed to upset the odds and defeat giant 155-pounders such as BJ Penn and Gray Maynard.

However, he’s also taken severe beatings in his fights, and it was no different against Aldo at 145 pounds when he came off second-best in opening exchanges. Edgar did finish strong in the later rounds, as he usually does, but for the third fight in a row it wasn’t enough to sway the judges.

That has left the former champion searching for a new challenge, and some have suggested that he would be better suited going further down to 135 pounds.

“I like that better,” White said. “The lower he goes, the happier I am. I don’t want him going any higher.”

The current 135-pound champ is Dominick Cruz, who, at 5’8″, is still bigger than Edgar. Cruz has held the UFC bantamweight belt since the division was created, but he’s been suffering a knee injury which has sidelined him for the foreseeable future.

However, there are other interesting fights for Edgar at 135 pounds as well. Current bantamweight titleholder Renan Barão is on an incredible 30-fight undefeated streak and could prove a lucrative opponent for Edgar.

Whatever he decides, one thing that is certain is that his boss has no intention of seeing him go back up a weight division.

“I like Frankie Edgar a lot as a person,” White said. “Take away the whole fighting thing—I like him as a person, as a human being, and I don’t ever want to see him at 155 pounds. The guys are too big and too strong at 155.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 156 Results: Five Fights for Antonio Silva to Take Next

Everyone raise your hands if you expected Antonio Silva to defeat Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 via crippling knockout blows.Really? Just a few of you in the back row?That’s not a problem—many of us didn’t expect him to win, either.But regardless, …

Everyone raise your hands if you expected Antonio Silva to defeat Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 via crippling knockout blows.

Really? Just a few of you in the back row?

That’s not a problem—many of us didn’t expect him to win, either.

But regardless, “Bigfoot” Silva has pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC heavyweight history, defeating the very same man who ushered his departure from the Blackzilians camp in Florida.

Question is, what the heck does the UFC do with Silva now?

Read along as we rack our brains to figure out Bigfoot’s place in the UFC heavyweight division, with a particularly long look at a rematch with the current champion.

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UFC 156 Results: 5 Fights for Alistair Overeem to Take Next

Interestingly enough, Alistair Overeem has a wide-open field of possible fights thanks to his embarrassing knockout loss at UFC 156.To most MMA fans and pundits, “The Reem” was simply killing time against the dangerous-but-flawed Antonio Silva while tu…

Interestingly enough, Alistair Overeem has a wide-open field of possible fights thanks to his embarrassing knockout loss at UFC 156.

To most MMA fans and pundits, “The Reem” was simply killing time against the dangerous-but-flawed Antonio Silva while tuning up for a title fight against current heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

Surprisingly, “Bigfoot” Silva smashed those plans.

Fighting back from a losing position on the judges’ scorecards, Bigfoot eventually started to chip away at Overeem’s unprotected chin, stunning and dropping the Blackzilian star in the third round and flipping over a whole division.

It’s a stunning upset, but what happens now?

Overeem is still a star in the UFC, so he’s not likely to get shoved far down the line—and with that in mind, here are five matches that make the most sense for him.

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UFC 156 Results: 5 Fights for Alistair Overeem to Take Next

Interestingly enough, Alistair Overeem has a wide-open field of possible fights thanks to his embarrassing knockout loss at UFC 156.

Surprisingly, “Bigfoot” Silva smashed those plans.

It’s a stunning upset, but what happens now?

Overeem is still a star in the UFC, so he’s not likely to get shoved far down the line—and with that in mind, here are five matches that make the most sense for him.

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