Maia is a jiujitsu guy, he used chained takedowns, and pulling half guard to look for a submission. Maia even said that Masvidal was the toughest guy he has fought as far as the grappling exchanges. That fight still came down to a split decision.
Kamaru will try to push him up to the cage, clinch fight, then go for the takedown, like he did to Woodley. Woodley has gotten away from grappling, as we could all see, relying on his knockout power. Masvidal trains in a wrestler heavy gym, with the likes of Romero and Covington, but unlike Woodley he is comfortable fighting off his back, as he showed in the fight against Maia. Masvidal won’t panic if he gets taken down, and is really good at scrambling.
I can see this turning into a striking match by round 2, in which case I give the advantage to Masvidal, especially since he is far more aggressive nowadays . I think Masvidal is the biggest threat to Usman’s title reign, but if Usman wins, it might be smooth sailing for him for a while.
