In the main event of the evening, current UFC middleweight champion and arguably the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world in Anderson Silva (25-4, 10-0 UFC) will put his belt on the line in a showdown with Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Demian Maia (12-1, 6-1 UFC). Silva enters the contest following the complete destruction of Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 while Maia out punched Dan Miller over three rounds to take a decision at UFC 109.
Vitor Belfort was Silva’s original opponent for UFC 112, but after he pulled out due to a shoulder injury — Maia was picked as the next challenger to the crown despite Chael Sonnen‘s beatdown of Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, a fight that many determined to be the #1 contender bout. Unfortunately, the close proximity in time and the injuries received by the qualifying fighters following UFC 109 also played a hand in the decision-making process.
I won’t sugar coat how I think this fight will go down, and I’m not buying into the idea that Demain Maia’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu training and transitioning skills have been bred to defeat a fighter like Anderson Silva. Sure, he stands a significant chance of submitting the champion if the fight happens to hit the floor. Long limbs aren’t something you want to expose on the floor against a guy who can transition to a leg lock, kneebar, toe hold, and any other leg submission in a split second.
But this is a much more complicated endeavor for Maia than simply gaining a takedown and making Silva defend against a dizzying array of submissions. Maia will need to do what Thales Leites wasn’t able to do. He’ll need to wade through the power of Anderson Silva, gain a takedown, and maintain control while putting Silva on the defense. Can he do that?
I doubt it, and Maia’s striking display against Dan Miller isn’t any sort of indication that he’s going to suddenly throw impressive strikes from various angles and “clown” the current champion of making opponents look like “clowns”. I also don’t see Maia using the clinch effectively against Silva as he did against Sonnen. I do, however, see a Thai plum with various knees landing on Maia’s melon if the fight hits that position.
Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic about Maia’s chances, and while I love the fact that guy is a wizard on the ground — Anderson Silva is absolutely stunning to watch in the striking department. He’s quick, versatile, dynamic in his offense, and much, much more dangerous than Demian Maia. Fights start standing, and while Silva isn’t insanely tough to takedown — it’s getting to that position that Maia will feel the most resistance.
I won’t be the party pooper entirely. I’m willing to admit that I’m going to probably throw a little dinero down on Maia to make things interesting because I do feel that if this fight does hit the ground in some manner, Maia has the skills to make it difficult for him to escape his tarantula grip and vision for the submission.
In my objective look at this fight, I have to look at skills, wins, and performances as a whole. Silva is nearly the complete fighter, and he might very well be the best ever. We haven’t seen enough of his ground game to determine that, but we really haven’t had to see much of it. He’s just been that dominant as a striker. Anderson Silva should finish Demian Maia in this match-up.