MMAVu

UFC 102: Maia vs Marquardt

The two top middleweight contenders will face off at UFC 102 in Portlan, Oregon in a possible title-elimination bout…but likely after Michael Bisping or Dan Henderson get their shot first.

Marquardt has been on a roll since losing to Anderson Silva in July of 2007. He has defeated Jeremy Horn, Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia in impressive fashion. His only blemish since that time was a split-decision loss to Thales Leites, a bout in which he was docked two points for illegal (questionable) strikes.

Maia, on the other hand, is a ju-jitsu wizard, submitting all four of his UFC opponents and making it look rather easy. The UFC may be a bit cautious with Maia’s title shot however, as he has much of the same qualities as Thales Leites, with less striking ability. Leites’ fight with Anderson Silva drew a storm of criticism for the lack of action, because neither man could make the other guy play “his” game. Maia is a pure one-trick pony (grappling) with an even lower name value than Leites.

If Marquardt wins, he *may* get a second shot at Silva sometime down the road when/if Anderson Silva returns from the 205lb division, but if Maia wins, his chances at the title are, in my opinion, much less. Either way, this should be a great test for both guys.

Some intense dudes.

Poor Thiago Silva.

First he gets his first loss by emphatic knockout at UFC 94, then he gets the rug pulled out from under him in the Forrest Griffin fight, now he gets the 2-dollar-steak-tough, Keith Jardine. Let’s look at the three duds one at a time.

KO loss to Machida: Silva was on an absolute tear. He exemplified the fierce, aggressive Chute Boxe style to a tee, like a young Wanderlei Silva. The Brazilian Buzzsaw ran into an enigma he couldn’t solve though, in the ghost-like Lyoto Machida. Machida danced and hit, and danced some more, eventually connecting on a clean shot, flooring Silva, and adding a second punch when Silva was horizontal on the ground, turning his lights out. Suffering your first loss is bad enough, but to lose in such a fashion…ouch.

For his comeback fight, Silva was offered up Forrest Griffin, the former Light heavyweight Champion. This was to be the highest profile fight of Silva’s career, as the stars don’t get much bigger than Griffin in the UFC. A win would have put him in line for a title shot…until Griffin got pulled out for Anderson Silva.

Finally, he gets an almost-as-tough opponent in Jardine, but with 1/4 the star power of Griffin. A win over Jardine puts Silva up a few notches, but still about 2 wins from a title shot.

You win some, you lose some, huh Thiago?