UFC 112: Demian Maia - “A Home Away from Home”

Demian Maia challenges Anderson Silva at UFC 112 on Saturday night

> Don't miss our UFC 112 predictions and find the official UFC 112 fight results after the fights are complete here at Pro Fighting Fans!

Demian Maia (11-1 MMA / 6-1 UFC) will have the biggest opportunity of his young career on April 10th at UFC 112 when he takes on the world’s most dangerous striker in Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Maia is being given a very slim chance by many to take the champion’s belt; however, he may have a better shot than his naysayers think.

Maia will be in familiar territory, as he is used to visiting Abu Dhabi, the home of UFC 112, and is used to having his hand raised there as well. He has claimed more than one victory at Abu Dhabi’s submission grappling tournaments over the years, although, Saturday’s challenge is more than a one dimensional submission event.

Find great unique MMA style t-shirts & clothing online from Intimidation Clothing!

That aforementioned challenge comes in the form of the most dominant champion in UFC history. It also comes as somewhat of a surprise; Maia is replacing Silva’s original opponent – Vitor Belfort in the UFC 112 main event. Belfort was forced to bow out because of a shoulder injury that he injured during preparation for the title bout. His loss becomes Maia’s gain as he was more than willing to step in on somewhat of a short notice.

While Maia is coming off of a decisive February UFC 109 decision victory over Dan Miller, he is only eight months removed from a 21-second KO loss by Nate Marquardt, thus the reason for many critics’ arguing his title shot.

Whatever way you look at it, Maia is in basically a “no lose” situation. If he comes out with a submission or decision victory, (I think we all know that there is no chance of a Maia (T) KO victory) he is going to bring his career to an unimaginable level of success. On the other hand, if he becomes “The Spider’s” eleventh straight octagon victory, then, nothing is changed. To be honest, Maia probably wouldn’t drop all that much within the middleweight (185-pounds) division rankings with a loss to Silva.

It’s fairly obvious, Maia will have to avoid Silva’s long reach and weird striking angles for long enough to get this championship bout to the ground. Once there, he will also have to watch out for Silva’s long legs and skills from his back, although, Maia is in a different class when fighting from the canvas and shouldn’t have much to worry about there.

> Look to Pro Fighting Fans for the official UFC 112 results after the fights are complete and check out the expanded selection of UFC clothing & merchandise available online!

If Maia can execute his game plan by getting Silva in an uncomfortable position, he will surprise a lot of people. Even if all the parts of his strategy fall into place, the question as to whether Maia has what it takes to knock off Silva remains? It is certain though; that Maia is dangerous and an expert at what he does best. There should be no doubt that he deserves credit and a better chance than many have given him.

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer