Without placing blame on any one elbow I think we can agree that Mark Munoz did take a bit of steam out of the UFC of Fox 2 card that will be broadcast live from Chicago this Saturday night. But the entire card, from the Facebook prelims on up, is stacked so harping on his injury hardly seems worth it. Plus we could always just look on the bright side…this new card pretty much guarantees that we’ll get to see Chael Sonnen choke Michael Bisping unconscious plus we get a downright fantastic battle between established middleweight star Demian Maia (15-3) and the new guy on the block Chris Weidman (7-0)
Certainly the UFC found themselves in a spot when Munoz pulled out of his fight a few weeks back but they recovered nicely bringing in Weidman, a man who has been deemed the future of the division. And in matching him up against Maia we’ll get to see just what he’s made of. Maia, sadly, has settled into a gatekeeper role as after laying a bomb in his title fight against Anderson Silva back in 09 he has pretty much guaranteed that he will never get another title shot in that division. Plus after starting 11-0 he has only gone 4-3 in his last seven fights and at 34 he’s no young buck so where exactly does his career go from here? If he expects it to go anywhere he is probably going to need a highlight reel victory over Weidman and really, what are the chances he pulls that off?
When Weidman entered the UFC a little under a year ago he brought with him a 4-0 record and buckets full of hype. Since then he has chewed up the lower end of the division earning himself, with an assist from Munoz, a chance to take out a top 10 middleweight in front of an audience of millions. It was a risky fight for him and his team to take, especially considering the short notice, but when a career opportunity like this presents itself you pretty much have to say yes. Vegas likes him as a -150 favorite in what they claim will be the most hotly contested main card fight of the night. Weidman is a stud grappler and should have the striking advantage so victory is easily within his reach but if anybody is going to shrink under the brightest of bright lights it will be him.
If anything is going to be an X factor that has the potential to tilt this fight one way or the other I would say that it would be experience and Weidman’s lack of it which could lead to him being filled with over confidence as he enters the Octagon. It’s hard to overstate the difference in skill level between a Tom Lawlor and a Demian Maia and I’m sure Weidman is aware of that but considering that he has walked through every fight of his career thus far it will be interesting to see what happens when somebody actually holds his feet to the fire. Weidman will try to lean on his striking, I assume, because despite some obvious efforts by Maia he will never really know how to box properly. Maia does have a huge advantage however in worthwhile experience and I like him here especially if he is able to get Weidman to the mat. The fight is probably not the best ambassador for the sport but we as an MMA community will have to eventually get over such insecurities. If you and I are able to appreciate the art of a good ground war then why can’t the rest of the country? To the best of my knowledge Maia has retired from the finishing game so don’t look for any awe inspiring finishes but he should end up in the winner’s circle thanks to a trio of 29-28 scorecards.
