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So here is it, Sherbros. The final chapter of Maia's career. What a ride it's been.
Almost 14 years, and I can say that I've been fortunate enough to have been a fan of his to watch it all from the beginning. I can always see it in my mind, as vividly as if it was yesterday, Maia putting his balls literally in Sonnen's mouth and tap him out in like a minute or so. What a fight that was.
And wow, his last fight againt Ben Askren, that was pretty epic, how Maia choked out Ben with one hand, then got on top of the cage and was yelling "BJJ! BJJ! BJJ!". For as cool as I thought that was, I don't think enough people really talked about that.
To be honest I'm not sure if he's winning this last fight, so that may have been his last win. Ben sold his soul for the money at the end of his career, but I always thought highly of Ben, and to me that is not a bad win to retire on. Actually lots of people thought Ben was going be able to lay on Maia ala Shields, but then after Maia made it look easy, they acted like it was a gimme fight for Maia or something. Hindsight 20/20 I guess, I knew that was real tough fight, possibly toughest fight for Askren. But I guess not as tough as Jake Paul with 500k on the line.
Anyway, with a week before Maia's last fight, let's try ranking Maia among BJJ Goats. Personally, as good as Maia is, I think he's bit overated on Sherdog, with how media and people around here calling him Mr. BJJ and all. He had really dominant takedown game, especially after he got flash koed by Nate, and amazing BJJ obviously, but here are my rankings. Post yours.
0. Travis Lutter
- Michael Jordan of BJJ
1. Werdum
-Better BJJ credentials, Better MMA wins, Former UFC champion, tapped Cain, Fedor and Nog. Personally I think Werdum is one of the most under-rated fighters of all time. But PFL overturning his last loss was incredibly shady.
2. Big Nog.
-Not as good BJJ credentials. Maia never placed in Mundials though at black belt, Nog has bronze. Former PRIDEFC and UFC interim heavyweight champion.
3. BJ Penn
- Not as good BJJ credentials again, though like said before, Maia never placed in Mundial at black belt, BJ won gold. Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion.
4. Royce Gracie
- The one who started it all. Roid hurt him for sure, kinda hard to rank Royce. I will just rank him here for convenience.
5. Charles Oliveira
- No known BJJ credentials, 3rd degree BJJ Black belt, 19 submission wins, current UFC lightweight champion.
6. Jacare
I think it's difficult to seperate these two, but I think I will place Jacare above Maia. Jacare did as well as Maia did in MMA if not better, and had much better BJJ credentials. It could be argued he wasn't as reliant on BJJ as Maia, but when he did, it was as lethal as anyone's. I think at MW Jacare would beat Maia as well for what it's worth, though Jacare declined really bad.
7. Demian Maia
- Great BJJ credentials, great display of BJJ, fell short when it mattered most, but great BJJ fighter and a role model.
Almost 14 years, and I can say that I've been fortunate enough to have been a fan of his to watch it all from the beginning. I can always see it in my mind, as vividly as if it was yesterday, Maia putting his balls literally in Sonnen's mouth and tap him out in like a minute or so. What a fight that was.
And wow, his last fight againt Ben Askren, that was pretty epic, how Maia choked out Ben with one hand, then got on top of the cage and was yelling "BJJ! BJJ! BJJ!". For as cool as I thought that was, I don't think enough people really talked about that.
To be honest I'm not sure if he's winning this last fight, so that may have been his last win. Ben sold his soul for the money at the end of his career, but I always thought highly of Ben, and to me that is not a bad win to retire on. Actually lots of people thought Ben was going be able to lay on Maia ala Shields, but then after Maia made it look easy, they acted like it was a gimme fight for Maia or something. Hindsight 20/20 I guess, I knew that was real tough fight, possibly toughest fight for Askren. But I guess not as tough as Jake Paul with 500k on the line.
Anyway, with a week before Maia's last fight, let's try ranking Maia among BJJ Goats. Personally, as good as Maia is, I think he's bit overated on Sherdog, with how media and people around here calling him Mr. BJJ and all. He had really dominant takedown game, especially after he got flash koed by Nate, and amazing BJJ obviously, but here are my rankings. Post yours.
0. Travis Lutter
- Michael Jordan of BJJ
1. Werdum
-Better BJJ credentials, Better MMA wins, Former UFC champion, tapped Cain, Fedor and Nog. Personally I think Werdum is one of the most under-rated fighters of all time. But PFL overturning his last loss was incredibly shady.
2. Big Nog.
-Not as good BJJ credentials. Maia never placed in Mundials though at black belt, Nog has bronze. Former PRIDEFC and UFC interim heavyweight champion.
3. BJ Penn
- Not as good BJJ credentials again, though like said before, Maia never placed in Mundial at black belt, BJ won gold. Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion.
4. Royce Gracie
- The one who started it all. Roid hurt him for sure, kinda hard to rank Royce. I will just rank him here for convenience.
5. Charles Oliveira
- No known BJJ credentials, 3rd degree BJJ Black belt, 19 submission wins, current UFC lightweight champion.
6. Jacare
I think it's difficult to seperate these two, but I think I will place Jacare above Maia. Jacare did as well as Maia did in MMA if not better, and had much better BJJ credentials. It could be argued he wasn't as reliant on BJJ as Maia, but when he did, it was as lethal as anyone's. I think at MW Jacare would beat Maia as well for what it's worth, though Jacare declined really bad.
7. Demian Maia
- Great BJJ credentials, great display of BJJ, fell short when it mattered most, but great BJJ fighter and a role model.
