MMAVu

Maia, on the left, whooping on Ed Herman

In a word, ouch.

The UFC were waiting on the result of Anderson-Thales match to see what to do with me. They told me they were planning to give me the chance in August but because of their performance the UFC decided not put Silva in a main event very soon. Then they matched me and Nate Marquardt to find out the next challenger for the belt.

If this were true, I’d be asking to fight Thales next…although with that piss-poor performance he had against Anderson Silva, his stock plummeted and beating him wouldn’t get you very far. You can chalk that up as Thales’ first and last UFC title shot. Ever. Period. Finito.

Maia finds himself saddled with the consolation prize, a top contender’s match with Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 on August 29 in Portlan, OR. Maia is in for a battle against the gigantic Marquardt, who is more than capable of handling a ju-jitsu based fighter. He smashed Dean Lister all around and made Lister look terrible, keeping him at bay with his striking. Marquardt has great stand-up, great size, and a very good ground game; not on Maia’s level, but enough so that he won’t get caught by Maia, and with his strength advantage, stay out of trouble. And, he’s smart enough not to tangle with Maia on the ground like Jason MacDonald did.

Credit: FightersOnly

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.