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Demian Maia vs. Jorge Masvidal Results: Winner and Reaction from UFC 211

Demian Maia entered UFC 211 with everything on the line. A loss would have crippled his chances at ever getting another UFC title shot, and he was facing a top-tier challenge against Jorge Masvidal at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The scorecards …

The scorecards may have been split, but the fight clearly belonged to the Brazilian.

Maia’s grappling stifled Masvidal throughout the three rounds and only gave the American Top Team product brief moments to score with his offense, which he did to make it close. Still, the result was the right one with Maia getting his hand raised.

Maia shot in around the 30-second mark. Masvidal fought off the takedown attempt well, but Maia stayed attached to him. Maia took his back, but Masvidal stood with him against the fence. Patience became the name of the game.

Maia peppered Masvidal with punches trying to get space to slip his arm under the chin. Masvidal remained calm enough to defend as the first round ticked under two minutes. Masvidal’s patience paid off with under 30 seconds as he shook Maia to the canvas and landed several big punches. It made the round close as he landed the big offense compared to Maia’s control.

Masvidal was ready to defend slower takedown attempts in the second round as Maia spent a lot of energy in the first frame. Still, Maia tried all the tricks to stay attached to Masvidal. Maia finally assumed top position with Masvidal on his back with two minutes remaining in the second. He would have to begin working from half-guard. Masvidal’s defense got him through another strong two minutes of control from the grappling ace.

Half of the third and final round was spent feeling each other out. Maia looked for an opening knowing he didn’t have the energy to chase Masvidal, and Masvidal was weary of an oncoming takedown attempt. However, at around that halfway marker, Maia was able to get Masvidal to the ground. He worked on a rear-naked choke, but he did not have it under the chin or have Masvidal’s back completely. He would work to that position shortly after giving up the choke.

Masvidal defended until the horn. Survival was his only option, but it was still much more than most of Maia’s opponents have been able to do on the mat. Maia controlled the fight and grappled his way to yet another victory.

The loss was damaging to Masvidal, but only minimally so. Masvidal showed he can survive with Maia on the ground and had moments on the feet to challenge him. Masvidal will move down the ladder again, but his showing proves he’s one of the elite at 170 pounds.

Maia’s next step is clear. A title shot.

Tyron Woodley is seeking a challenge, and all signs point to Maia as being that next man up. That includes a post-fight moment with UFC President Dana White who shouted, “You got it!” from cageside to Maia. The ink still needs to be put to paper, but Maia’s chance at glory is coming up.

Maia vs. Masvidal lived up to the hype. It was a high-level battle of elites. The superior fighter got by with his world-class skills and appears destined for a date with the champion.

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Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez Results: Winner and Reaction from UFC 211

Many believed that Yair Rodriguez vs. Frankie Edgar was a case of too much, too soon for the hot prospect. At UFC 211, those people were proved very, very correct. In a contest so lopsided that it’s hard to even consider it a “fight,” the former l…

Right from the get-go, it was clear where the fight was going. Edgar pressed the action early in the first, with his technical boxing generally trumping Rodriguez’s wild, lunging strikes. A takedown came before long, and Rodriguez wouldn’t get up until the horn sounded and mercifully halted Edgar’s smothering top game.

The second round picked up right where the first left off. After a brief striking engagement, Edgar landed a takedown. While Rodriguez briefly threatened with a kneebar, Edgar was settled into top position before long, and rained down punches and elbows until the horn.

That would mark the end of the fight. With Rodriguez’s left eye swollen shut and colored various shades of purple and yellow, Edgar was declared the winner by TKO via injury at 5:00 of the second round.

It’s a brutal turn for the high-flying Mexican. Rodriguez entered the cage at UFC 211 as one of the most interesting talents in the UFC, and one of the few remaining testaments to the organization as a talent-building entity.

The winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, Rodriguez turned the heads of American fans with his blistering pace and wild striking, and established himself as the first Mexico-born male top prospect in MMA history. That early success didn’t slow down, either, as he worked his way up the rankings, and amassed a six-fight winning streak with very little difficulty.

That success, coupled with his strong marketability, made him a fighter that should have been slowly nurtured into the UFC’s next big star. Instead, they opted to throw him into the deep end of the featherweight talent pool against, arguably, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game today.

While this doesn’t end Rodriguez’s career by any stretch of the imagination—he is just 24 years old in a division where fighters age quickly—this is a major setback for him and a bout that, unfortunately, shaves time off his very promising career.

Edgar, despite the win, remains on a career treadmill. Despite the fact that The Answer is unquestionably an elite-level talent at 145 pounds, his two losses to on-paper champion Jose Aldo lock him out of title contention for the time being. Worse, if Aldo defeats Max Holloway at UFC 212 in June, the timetable for another shot at gold is extended indefinitely.

There are various ways he could find his way to a shot at the belt, sure.

Aldo could lose the title at some point…but Aldo didn’t become one of the UFC’s most dominant champions by luck. Edgar could return to 155 pounds and resume his chase after Conor McGregor…but with McGregor potentially boxing Floyd Mayweather, it’s completely unknown when (or if) he may come back. He could drop down to 135 pounds and potentially get an immediate title shot…but a hard career reboot and adventurous weight cut at 35 years old isn’t necessarily wise.

As such, nobody really gained anything from this fight. Not Edgar, not Rodriguez, not the UFC and not the fans. On paper, Edgar is the winner but really, it feels like this fight only had varying degrees of losers.

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Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier Results: Winner and Reaction from UFC 211

UFC 211 looked like quite an event on paper and, based on the headlining scrap for FX’s preliminary action, anyone who felt that way has pretty good instincts about the game.
Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, last seen on the wrong end of …

UFC 211 looked like quite an event on paper and, based on the headlining scrap for FX’s preliminary action, anyone who felt that way has pretty good instincts about the game.

Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, last seen on the wrong end of a Conor McGregor left hand, battled former featherweight turned streaking lightweight Dustin Poirier, 5-1 at the weight class coming into Saturday.

In the end it was a confusing finish, though, with a no-contest resulting from an illegal blow that brought things to a stop in the second round.

With both men known for their aggression, the bout started counterintuitively with a bit of a feeling-out process. Angles and calculation were largely on display, interspersed with some single shots. Poirier landed the first combo and some big kicks, but Alvarez blocked them and the two casually returned to the center of the cage.

Poirier worked with straight punches there while Alvarez tried to come over the top with big hooks, continually getting stung in the process. By the halfway point of the round, Poirier had landed more shots and done so more cleanly, with Alvarez—a noted slow starter—looking stagnant and tight. Despite some better offense in the closing seconds of the round from the former champ, Poirier was a clear 10-9 winner in the first.

The second began with Alvarez hustling to the middle of the cage and firing a combination and then shooting for a double-leg takedown. It was stuffed, but he pressed Poirier to the fence and began to grind and score points.

Poirier eventually shook him off, though, and the return to the cage saw the kickboxing exchanges look similar to those of the first round, with the Louisianan getting the better of the action. He eventually landed a big shot that wobbled Alvarez, then poured it on to the tune of some serious damage.

Alvarez, however, reminded viewers exactly how durable he is by firing back from the fringe of consciousness and landing big shots of his own, hurting Poirier in kind.

Things got very strange from there though, with the dreaded “grounded opponent” rule showing up to ruin another spirited bout.

Coming out of a furious standing exchange and with Poirier on the ground, Alvarez threw at least one illegal knee and badly hurt Poirier. Referee Herb Dean stepped in to give Poirier some time, and Poirier was heard on the UFC broadcast stating that he was having issues with his eye, which led officials to call an end to the show.

After discussing the outcome with UFC regulatory ace Marc Ratner, Dean decided the bout should be a no-contest due to Alvarez landing the blows without intent for them to be illegal. It was an unfortunate end to a wild fight that looked like it was just heating up, and this was the second straight major UFC event to be marred by a controversial stoppage coming out of the same convoluted, inexplicable rule.

The only reasonable outcome for the UFC going forward is a rematch, possibly headlining a fight night in the summer. There’s already proof the two are going to bring fireworks, and based on the two rounds at UFC 211, people should be keen to see Poirier and Alvarez do it again.

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