Maia is in no way a threat to Khamzat

[Grand mahumper]

If dudes so good according to himself, dana, and loads of others then why would you take a fight with a man borderline retired. Maia don't play around but honestly if ur a smash monster gonna be double champ why wait to fight a #15-10 ranked fighter. Give dude to Geoff neal or someone skilled and in the hunt for the top. Not interested in seeing his garbage trash talk and interviews if he's not fighting top dudes ready to kill

 

[Safton]

I'm just saying nobody has really done what you suggested effortlessly, and we've also never seen chimaev work a sprawl and brawl strategy.

But we have seen Maia neutralized more than once and by fighters with inferior grappling skills to Chimaev who don't possess his kind of power. You're getting too hung up on one word.

That second part is a bit of a cop-out. We've never seen him work a sprawl-n-brawl against him because he's always the one doing the mauling. There's little reason to believe -- based on the skills he has demonstrated -- that he is incapable of such a gameplan. We've seen an opponent use sprawl-n-brawl against him... and Chimaev ended up putting him to sleep.

 

[Leonard Haid]

Well Khamzat said his goal was to choke Maia out which make the fight way more interesting

True. If he keeps it on the feet it could likely be another Meerschaert moment in the first round. If he grapples with Maia to show what a man he is, it could backfire on him.

 

[moreorless87]

But we have seen Maia neutralized more than once and by fighters with inferior grappling skills to Chimaev who don't possess his kind of power. You're getting too hung up on one word.

That second part is a bit of a cop-out. We've never seen him work a sprawl-n-brawl against him because he's always the one doing the mauling. There's little reason to believe -- based on the skills he has demonstrated -- that he is incapable of such a gameplan. We've seen an opponent use sprawl-n-brawl against him... and Chimaev ended up putting him to sleep.

I'm not sure Maia these days has the same fear factor off of his back he did in the past, technically he's still strong but he's not very quick anymore.

 

[fortheo]

But we have seen Maia neutralized more than once and by fighters with inferior grappling skills to Chimaev who don't possess his kind of power. You're getting too hung up on one word.

That second part is a bit of a cop-out. We've never seen him work a sprawl-n-brawl against him because he's always the one doing the mauling. There's little reason to believe -- based on the skills he has demonstrated -- that he is incapable of such a gameplan. We've seen an opponent use sprawl-n-brawl against him... and Chimaev ended up putting him to sleep.

We have no way of knowing if chimaev is a better grappler than the guys who neutralized Maia, especially in the context of MMA. Maia has only lost to champs and number one contenders.

 

[Dionysian]

Well Khamzat said his goal was to choke Maia out which make the fight way more interesting

This X100. Why is no one paying attention to this?
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...hamzat-sig-why-maia-is-a-huge-threat.4134366/

Very obnoxious that everyone is ALREADY moving the goal posts to discredit Maia before the fight starts. You assholes keep saying "who has he beat" and now that he's facing ranked competition you're already discrediting a win that hasn't happened yet.

Khamzat's stated intention (see the thread I linked) is to employ, without a doubt, the most dangerous gameplan in MMA history. One NO ONE has done (and no, Shields, wasn't aiming to choke him out). It is a bit annoying that this fact is flying under the radar.

 

[Safton]

We have no way of knowing if chimaev is a better grappler than the guys who neutralized Maia, especially in the context of MMA. Maia has only lost to champs and number one contenders.

I think we have enough evidence to make educated guesses on the matter when you consider Maia's age and fight mileage. I'm talking about a modern day context, remember. Demian wasn't able to threaten Silva with his TDs at all, despite Silva's wrestling being arguably the weakest part of his game.

I'm not hating on Maia. He's one of my favorite fighters on the roster. I just don't think this is a good fight for him stylistically.

 

[thelittleman]

After reading the recent Khamzat threads it seems like everyone thinks that Maia is his kryptonite. This is ridiculous Maia is about to turn 43 and Khazmat hasn't even entered his prime yet. Maia will not be able to get the fight to the ground and even if he did it's not like Khamzat doesn't know how to defend himself there. Khamzat keeps it standing and finishes Maia imo

This guy just beat a guy who has lost 3 out of his last 4 fights, a guy who has won 3 out of his last 5 fights, and another guy who has lost 4 out of his last 5 fights!!

His competitions is a combined 7 - 8 in their last 5 fights, and now people are talking about a Title shot for this guy???

 

[Safton]

This X100. Why is no one paying attention to this?
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...hamzat-sig-why-maia-is-a-huge-threat.4134366/

Very obnoxious that everyone is ALREADY moving the goal posts to discredit Maia before the fight starts. You assholes keep saying "who has he beat" and now that he's facing ranked competition you're already discrediting a win that hasn't happened yet.

Khamzat's stated intention (see the thread I linked) is to employ, without a doubt, the most dangerous gameplan in MMA history. One NO ONE has done (and no, Shields, wasn't aiming to choke him out). It is a bit annoying that this fact is flying under the radar.

Already addressed this earlier in the thread, actually. But feel free to rage nonetheless.

 

[Huligani]

Not anymore yeah. Maia would get flattened in round 1 like he was against Burns.

 

[Dionysian]

Already addressed this earlier in the thread, actually. But feel free to rage nonetheless.

My comment was in reply to this thread existing (so the original post) and to general sentiment on Sherdog. The only person I quoted was the third post in the thread.

Both of those were before you made your first post in this thread. How you thought my comment was in any way a response to your post (which I never read) is a little weird.

 

[asdf122345]

This is going to be like Nate vs Maia. Brutal ko finish...

 

[fortheo]

I think we have enough evidence to make educated guesses on the matter when you consider Maia's age and fight mileage. I'm talking about a modern day context, remember. Demian wasn't able to threaten Silva with his TDs at all, despite Silva's wrestling being arguably the weakest part of his game.

I'm not hating on Maia. He's one of my favorite fighters on the roster. I just don't think this is a good fight for him stylistically.

Maia wasn't at his best against Anderson silva. That silva fight is what made maia start focusing heavily on wrestling, hence why Maia went on the streak of his life soon after that fight and has since got the 7th most takedowns in UFC history.

also, please don't compare Chimaev to Prime Anderson silva. come on man. Your analysis is making tons of assumptions. Maybe you'll be right, but based off the information we have right now, you're making tons of assumptions in breaking this fight down.

 

[fortheo]

Not anymore yeah. Maia would get flattened in round 1 like he was against Burns.

Maia has been finished twice in his entire career. Now everyone thinks he's easy pickings?

 

[fortheo]

I'm not sure Maia these days has the same fear factor off of his back he did in the past, technically he's still strong but he's not very quick anymore.

He just submitted and olympic wrestler/bjj black belt last year from a transition that started with him on his back.

 

[Safton]

My comment was in reply to this thread existing (so the original post) and to general sentiment on Sherdog. The only person I quoted was the third post in the thread.

Both of those were before you made your first post in this thread. How you thought my comment was in any way a response to your post (which I never read) is a little weird.

I know. What I'm saying I tend to agree with some (not all) of that "general sentiment" and I think you're off-base in taking Chimaev at his word by assuming that he'll willingly engage with Maia on the ground simply because he said so. Talk is cheap in MMA. We've seen it countless times. I know Borz is confident, but he also seems to have good fight IQ.

If he does end up wrestling Maia and finishes him on the ground -- much via submission -- then obviously his stock will soar and rightfully so.

 

[Kwic]

He is, if Khamzat decides to go to the mat.
If Khamzat finishes Maia on the ground it will be very impressive. If he submits him, I will lose my shit.

 

[Dionysian]

I know. What I'm saying I tend to agree with some (not all) of that "general sentiment" and I think you're off-base in taking Chimaev at his word by assuming that he'll willingly engage with Maia on the ground simply because he said so. Talk is cheap in MMA. We've seen it countless times. I know Borz is confident, but he also seems to have good fight IQ.

If he does end up wrestling Maia and finishes him on the ground -- much via submission -- then obviously his stock will soar and rightfully so.

Honestly, I normally ignore it, because you are right. Gilbert said he'd choke him out and obviously had no such intention. DC said he'd stand and trade with Rumble and obviously had no such intention. It happens all the time when they lie to misdirect... is normal.

But call me crazy, but I think Khamzat might seriously be THAT confident that he actually means that he'd employ the most dangerous gameplan in MMA history against Maia. Good point about his fight IQ though... I guess we'll see.

 

[thehighking]

If dudes so good according to himself, dana, and loads of others then why would you take a fight with a man borderline retired. Maia don't play around but honestly if ur a smash monster gonna be double champ why wait to fight a #15-10 ranked fighter. Give dude to Geoff neal or someone skilled and in the hunt for the top. Not interested in seeing his garbage trash talk and interviews if he's not fighting top dudes ready to kill

It makes sense not to throw him straight to the wolves. The hype surrounding Chimaev is going to make UFC lots of money. Let him take on Maia and if he wins then another top 10 with a name or a top 5 for a real test. Someone like Robbie Lawler or Tyron Woodley would be a cool, winnable fight with big name value. Maybe not Woodley after this loss, he needs to take an easier fight to get his confidence back. Donald Cerrone or Niko Price would be a cool fight too.

 

[Black Mamba]

I'd rather see Chimaev put an end to the Colby hype train