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Maia Prayer Vigil

Im a huge Maia fan... I was disappointed by him. As I have been since story.

It just doesn't seem like he has what it takes to compete at this level anymore.

Sad.
 
He made all the same mistakes as he did in the Rory fight. Basically, we know what we're going from Maia at this point. He isn't going to improve and with where he's at now, he isn't going to be a title contender.
 
He made all the same mistakes as he did in the Rory fight. Basically, we know what we're going from Maia at this point. He isn't going to improve and with where he's at now, he isn't going to be a title contender.

Seriously? I think he's still going to improve quite a bit..
 
He made all the same mistakes as he did in the Rory fight. Basically, we know what we're going from Maia at this point. He isn't going to improve and with where he's at now, he isn't going to be a title contender.

I think he's just happy fighting and doesn't really have the burn for the title like he did back when he lost to Marquardt and Anderson.

Dude has a life outside of MMA unlike a lot of fighters who live and breathe it. I'm cool just watching him fight until he retires.
 
Based on what?

you don't think he's made leaps and bounds in his striking

I don't know why you would think a guy who made it to the top in BJJ would just stop growing in the sport he's competing in now.
 
people forget that Damian has grown a lot in his striking and had almost none when he started in mma, his wrestling has improved as well, he just needs to put it all together now. And more work on his conditioning would help as well. I think he will continue to thrive at 170
 
People talk about Maia's improved striking but what's your starting point? I mean to me, it doesn't look any better now than it was against say... Mark Munoz in 2011. He's come a long way over the years but I just think that he's as good now as he's ever going to be. There's also the fact that the DHK win was a bit flukey and that the Story/Fitch wins aren't really holding up all that well. I just felt like the Yakovlev fight was an opportunity to show some improvements and he really didn't, it was like a repeat of the Rory performance only against lesser competition. He didn't bring anything new to the table that leads me to believe he's going to be a contender.
 
Maia jumped the shark after the Sonnen trip to triangle. He could do nothing but go down hill from there...... Then you all orgasmed when he Fitch'd my boy Fitch.

You all deserve the Shields fight and the languishing ride into abscurity that is to follow!!

These sort of comments are considered blasphemy in the f12 forums!
 
you don't think he's made leaps and bounds in his striking

I don't know why you would think a guy who made it to the top in BJJ would just stop growing in the sport he's competing in now.

Very few people become better fighters after turning 36, and having a decently long career at a high level, And he looked less skilled in his last fight than he has in the past. Look at when he was on his back in the second round, and compare that to his fight with Nate Quarry six years ago. Do you really think the Maia from last weekend was the better of those two? Even in the Sheilds fight Maia's half guard looked dead.

Maia jumped the shark after the Sonnen trip to triangle. He could do nothing but go down hill from there...... Then you all orgasmed when he Fitch'd my boy Fitch.

You all deserve the Shields fight and the languishing ride into abscurity that is to follow!!


Well it would be hard for anyone to top Maia's perfomance against Sonnen, but I think you're being a little harsh here. For the record Maia still beats Sonnen :icon_chee
 
Who ever says Maia hast done any improvement in the striking area clearly hasn't watched his first fights, that was even worst than werdums first fights in pride...

Regarding his guard, well I think that right now at UFC level, playing traditional close won't cut anymore to sub people, and whoever is on bottom is loosing the fight... Too much of a risk try to sub a good grappler, the guy on top has to make a horrible mistake in order to get caught in a sub, and since they know they'll pay for it, rarely guys on top of maia take chances.., Maia's best choice on the ground is to look to stand back up and try to get in top...
 
Who ever says Maia hast done any improvement in the striking area clearly hasn't watched his first fights, that was even worst than werdums first fights in pride...

Regarding his guard, well I think that right now at UFC level, playing traditional close won't cut anymore to sub people, and whoever is on bottom is loosing the fight... Too much of a risk try to sub a good grappler, the guy on top has to make a horrible mistake in order to get caught in a sub, and since they know they'll pay for it, rarely guys on top of maia take chances.., Maia's best choice on the ground is to look to stand back up and try to get in top...

Sure, but look how Maia handled being on bottom last weekend in comparison to the past. Against Quarry he disrupted his base, established upper body control, got a dominant angle then stood up and took him down. Against Cheal he was constantly looking to do those things, forcing him to let Maia up cleanly. Against Yakovlev he never tried to disrupt his base establish control or get a good angle, he just sat forward looking for a hopeless single and he ended up spending a lot of time in a vulnerable position; something he would have payed for against a better opponent.
 
Sure, but look how Maia handled being on bottom last weekend in comparison to the past. Against Quarry he disrupted his base, established upper body control, got a dominant angle then stood up and took him down. Against Cheal he was constantly looking to do those things, forcing him to let Maia up cleanly. Against Yakovlev he never tried to disrupt his base establish control or get a good angle, he just sat forward looking for a hopeless single and he ended up spending a lot of time in a vulnerable position; something he would have payed for against a better opponent.

I think he knows people wont try to put him out on the ground, so he kind of just waits for people to stand back up, saves energy, the quarry fight was long time ago, and he was probably constantly hunting for subs... he doesnt anymore... (to be for real,i dont even remember those fights anymore, I believe sonnen was never on top before getting dumped on his head, although I could be wrong, dont remember all that well)
 
Very few people become better fighters after turning 36, and having a decently long career at a high level, And he looked less skilled in his last fight than he has in the past. Look at when he was on his back in the second round, and compare that to his fight with Nate Quarry six years ago. Do you really think the Maia from last weekend was the better of those two? Even in the Sheilds fight Maia's half guard looked dead.




Well it would be hard for anyone to top Maia's perfomance against Sonnen, but I think you're being a little harsh here. For the record Maia still beats Sonnen :icon_chee

well i'd argue that maia certainly is still amongst the elite at WW.

Yes, i think maia better than he was six years ago. He had an opponent who wasn't as easily dominated on the ground. Not exactly a fair comparison IMO.

As for the shields fight, we all know shields is a beast on the ground and he has been in MMA longer than Maia has. No shame in getting neutralized by shields on the ground.
 
well i'd argue that maia certainly is still amongst the elite at WW.

Yes, i think maia better than he was six years ago. He had an opponent who wasn't as easily dominated on the ground. Not exactly a fair comparison IMO.

As for the shields fight, we all know shields is a beast on the ground and he has been in MMA longer than Maia has. No shame in getting neutralized by shields on the ground.

Both cancelled each other in my opinon, shields horrible striking won him the fight, those awful kicks to exactly, because neither of them did squad, only difference was that jake threw a little bit more
 
Both cancelled each other in my opinon, shields horrible striking won him the fight, those awful kicks to exactly, because neither of them did squad, only difference was that jake threw a little bit more

Shields won that fight by getting top position more often, a lot of it had to do with Maia getting reversed a few times off of failed attempts to take the back.
 
Shields won that fight by getting top position more often, a lot of it had to do with Maia getting reversed a few times off of failed attempts to take the back.

This! In my opinion if youre looking at grappling aspects Maia did better than Shields in that fight! Maia passed, mounted for a bit and even got shields's back while Jake never got past Maias half guard... Jake won the fight because MMA doesnt score like jiu jitsu and beign on top can secure a win.
 
Shields won that fight by getting top position more often, a lot of it had to do with Maia getting reversed a few times off of failed attempts to take the back.

nop, he won because mma is not scored as a whole, he won the second, lost the first, and in the thired, it was his horrible striking (but somehow useful) what got him the win, despite either of them doing squad.
 
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