Gygax

Ops is right. The first round was great back and forth action. But Maia was losing gas quickly in the 2nd, constantly just trying to pull guard. Whereas he controlled Ed's posturing in the first, Ed was really starting to punish him from top in the second as Demian gassed big time. Ed should have brought the fight back standing a bunch of times in the second. But he played right into Maia's specialty and got caught in the triangle.

I like Demian and have never been a fan of Herman's. But Maia really better brush up his conditioning big time.

No way is he ready for a title shot.

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Gooner

I'll just have to disagree with you two then.

First off, Herman was giving him "all he could handle"?
Are you kidding me?
It was a couple punches here and there between the countless efforts to try and survive Maia's sub-attempts. How many significant blows did he even land?
Also, since GnP is Herman's biggest strength I don't really follow the logic of if it had been Silva -> Maia unconscious.

I think you guys (like the commentators) are exaggerating the "gassing" of Maia big time.
By the sounds of all that, Herman should have destroyed him then. I mean, he was just pulling guard, was super duper gassed and didn't control Herman... where was the TKO?

Also, Maia would have an easier time wrestling with Silva. Maybe he wouldn't gas this dramatically in that fight.


EDIT: and so I maintain that DM indeed is ready for a title shot.
If the champion is Anderson Silva, that is.

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FF Prediction Contest Wins:
UFC 69
UFC 74
UFC 76
UFC 87

T-Bone

If someone wanted to watch it w/o being spoiled, why wouldn't they stay away the forums?

KRONOS

WOW!!!

giguer

Goulet received 75 000$ for fight of the night.

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Mickey Finn

if anything that proves the point that if put against a higher level opponent than herman he would struggle even more. because herman was only throwing a few punches, but when he did they landed pretty hard.

i dont think you want to be underneath silva. look at the marquardt fight

herman was super gassed as well. neither of them looked in shape. if herman was in shape he would have finished the gassed maia

silva has better takedown defense and reversals than herman

Gooner

A higher level opponent doesn't necessarily mean he has better GnP.
It looked to me like DM didn't care that much about getting a punch here and there. He stayed calm and that's what an elite BJJ guy needs to succeed in MMA.

Marquardt had already been rocked bad. And wasn't controlling Silva in anyway.
That's like saying Robbie Lawler has awesome GnP, look at his fight with Tiki. (grab your old DVDs)...

OK.
And if my aunt had a dick he'd be my uncle.

Silva has better takedown defense?!
I'm sorry, I like Silva and some of his haters have annoyed me big time, but that's just ridiculous.

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FF Prediction Contest Wins:
UFC 69
UFC 74
UFC 76
UFC 87

Eindar

Well, Gooner, Silva did stuff Dan Henderson multiple times recently, yes?

Gooner

Indeed. After rocking him in the stand-up.
I think it's pretty clear to me that in the first round Silva usually gets taken down regardless of who he's fighting.

Everyone said Henderson was the prototype to beat Silva.
I disagree. Hendo is the prototype to beat someone like Demian Maia.
Maia is the type of guy that would pose a bigger challenge for Silva imo (same thing with BJ Penn, and the advantage BJ has over Maia in that match-up is that he's proven he's got both good striking and a good chin).

You don't have to be a world class wrestler to take Silva down.
But you do have to have world class jits if you want to finish him there, which is what you need to do to beat him imo.
Surviving 5 rounds with that guy is a tall order for anyone.



Obviously I have a soft spot for this guy, but I would honestly have him as a slight favorite against Silva.
But it could all end with a flying knee, some crisp punching or a TKO if Maia wouldn't get the submission somewhat quickly.

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FF Prediction Contest Wins:
UFC 69
UFC 74
UFC 76
UFC 87