Jake Shields has returned to title contention, albeit in unconvincing fashion.
At UFC Fight Night 29, Shields earned a split-decision win over Demian Maia with reversals and by maintaining top position. With Maia being ranked No. 4 in the welterweight …
Jake Shields has returned to title contention, albeit in unconvincing fashion.
At UFC Fight Night 29, Shields earned a split-decision win over Demian Maia with reversals and by maintaining top position. With Maia being ranked No. 4 in the welterweight division prior to his loss to the non-ranked Shields, the result of Wednesday’s main event will shake up the 170-pound ladder.
In more surprising welterweight action, former middleweight Rousimar Palhares submitted Mike Pierce, and Dong Hyun Kim stunned Erick Silva at UFC Fight Night 29.
With another UFC event in the books, here are the fights that should be next for Shields, Maia and the rest of the UFC Fight Night 29 competitors.
UFC Fight Night 29 is now in the books. The card saw several fighters take great strides in their respective divisions, but as is the case whenever a competitor wins, it comes at the cost of someone else’s misfortune.
Here we will take a look at the ma…
UFC Fight Night 29 is now in the books. The card saw several fighters take great strides in their respective divisions, but as is the case whenever a competitor wins, it comes at the cost of someone else’s misfortune.
Here we will take a look at the main card fighters from Wednesday night’s action who did not have themselves a fun time, examine what the defeat means and where they go from here.
UFC Fight Night 29 was critically panned, but it did cause some important shakeups in the welterweight division. A top-five 170-pounder was taken down by split decision in a bout that was decent at best.
Not only that, but a normally grinding South Kor…
UFC Fight Night 29 was critically panned, but it did cause some important shakeups in the welterweight division. A top-five 170-pounder was taken down by split decision in a bout that was decent at best.
Not only that, but a normally grinding South Korean welterweight earned himself a highlight-reel knockout against a native hero. It earned him a $50,000 bonus check and a memory for the rest of his life.
Want to find out who these men are? You can right now, as we run down the top 10 welterweights in the UFC.
UFC Fight Night 29 is the latest UFC event to be indexed in the history books. The promotion now prepares to bring the Octagon back to the U.S. for UFC 167 this October 19.
However, before we look forward to Velasquez vs. dos Santos III, let’s take a l…
UFC Fight Night 29 is the latest UFC event to be indexed in the history books. The promotion now prepares to bring the Octagon back to the U.S. for UFC 167 this October 19.
However, before we look forward to Velasquez vs. dos Santos III, let’s take a look back at Wednesday night’s main card action.
It was a mixed bag with some entertaining fights, as well as some pretty dull ones. There was a handful of impressive showings as well as some lackadaisical ones. Some nice finishes and some hotly contested decisions.
As with every UFC card, there were lessons demonstrated, indications of who is ready to contend and who isn’t, decisive results and troubling trends.
Here we will take a look at six of those lessons from UFC Fight Night 29.
Demian Maia was on the rise in the UFC after three straight wins coming into his matchup with Jake Shields, but the 35-year-old may have squandered any hope he had at earning a fight with Georges St-Pierre in the future with a loss at UFC Fight Night 2…
Demian Maia was on the rise in the UFC after three straight wins coming into his matchup with Jake Shields, but the 35-year-old may have squandered any hope he had at earning a fight with Georges St-Pierre in the future with a loss at UFC Fight Night 29.
The result of the Shields-Maia bout was a split decision, with Shields gaining the victory. It was his second such decision in his last two fights.
As for Maia, it’s back to the drawing board—and it couldn’t be a worse time, given his age. Maia was rising back to contention in the welterweight division after defeating Dong Hyun Kim, Rick Story and Jon Fitch. In fact, according to UFC.com, Maia was ranked No. 4 in the division and had a golden opportunity to move up.
While Shields did get the win, he is a tough fighter to match up with, so there’s a chance Maia won’t fall too far in the rankings. Even if that turns out to be the case, the fact that he lost to Shields proves he doesn’t deserve a shot at St-Pierre’s crown.
Maia was thought to have a great shot at facing and beating St-Pierre—or at least as great a shot as anyone has against the legend. Maia possesses great skills on the ground and has proven to be a submission master in the past, and he has the ability to control even the best wrestlers.
His victory over Jon Fitch was one of the more dominant victories Fitch has fallen victim to in his career, with the losses to St-Pierre and No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks being about equal or worse.
That helped put Maia in a special class, and it looked as though he was on track to get a title shot in the near future.
After all, second-ranked Carlos Condit had already lost to GSP, and third-ranked Rory MacDonald had dropped a match to Condit back in 2010. Maia’s ability to match up well with GSP also gave him an edge over the two fighters in front of him.
But all of that was erased Wednesday night. Shields got the better of Maia, and Shields lost by unanimous decision to GSP back 2011. Maia’s loss to Shields shows he doesn’t belong in the same fight as GSP now—or maybe ever.
At the very least, Maia took a big step back in his quest for a title shot. Should he be lucky enough to face GSP down the road, his loss to Shields shows he simply doesn’t have the goods to beat the champ anyway.
Demian Maia’s torrid pace atop the welterweight division has come to an abrupt halt. The world-renowned submission specialist fell victim to former No. 1 contender Jake Shields last night in Brazil.
The split-decision loss was somewhat uncharacte…
Demian Maia’s torrid pace atop the welterweight division has come to an abrupt halt. The world-renowned submission specialist fell victim to former No. 1 contender Jake Shields last night in Brazil.
The split-decision loss was somewhat uncharacteristic for a grappling guru like Maia, but nonetheless his impressive three-fight win streak since making his welterweight debut has come to an end.
Ultimately, a decision loss doesn’t completely knock Maia out of the division’s top 10, but it’s not going to help his case for a title shot sometime in 2014.
Instead, a man who has already tasted a heartbreaking championship defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva will be forced back to the drawing board. It’s a step in the wrong direction for a 35-year-old, but potentially only a minor hiccup for a fighter who has only been finished once in his career.
So who’s next for one of the UFC’s best jiu-jitsu practitioners? Who can Maia match up with who offers him a chance to win and pad his growing welterweight resume?
Look no further.
Rousimar Palhares
As a fellow welterweight who thrives on grabbing his opponents and imposing his strong grappling, Palhares would be an excellent choice for Maia’s next opponent.
Both fighters are excellent at utilizing transitions, hip control and guard work, so you can count on a ground war. Now, while that may deter certain fans from watching, it’s still a versatile battle that offers some of the best Octagon action around.
A decisive victory over a submission savant like Palhares would certainly instill some confidence into Maia after his recent collapse against Shields. Of course, if he happened to get caught or whittled down by the bigger Brazilian, then Maia would most definitely drop out of the division’s top 10.
Martin Kampmann
Even after dropping back-to-back fights to some of the division’s most prolific names, Kampmann still possesses enough pizazz and respect to be an outstanding notch on Maia’s belt.
It would be a matchup that would not only showcase the Brazilian’s ability to get in close on a precise kickboxer with strong hands, but it’d be interesting to see if Maia could muscle down one of the better takedown defenders in the weight class.
Kampmann is also still ranked fairly high in the division, so a finish over him would put Maia right back where he needs to be to contend for a title sometime late next year.
Nick Diaz
Why not, Diaz?
With speculation swirling about a possible return, albeit an undetermined one at that, Diaz would essentially be a lottery ticket for Maia’s title hopes.
A fighter like Diaz commands a certain popularity that only a few athletes in today’s MMA have the privilege of showcasing. So even though he hasn’t captured a victory inside the Octagon since 2011, the hard-nosed Californian can still promote the heck out of a fight.
If Maia was to ever fight Diaz, an impressive victory would once again supplant him atop the welterweight crop heap. Of course, this is assuming he can escape the penetrating presence of Diaz’s suffocating boxing and in-fight antics.
Demian Maia was on the rise in the UFC after three straight wins coming into his matchup with Jake Shields, but the 35-year-old may have squandered any hope he had at earning a fight with Georges St-Pierre in the future with a loss at