The Doggy Bag: The Intense Week Edition

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Any thoughts about Demian Maia as a welterweight title contender? I have been skeptical each step of the way, but he continues to dominate in every fight. If he can dominate Fitch like that, I can at least see him beating everyone in the division not named Georges St. Pierre. How do you size up Maia against the champion and does he offer anything against St. Pierre that others couldn't? It is hard for me to see Maia taking GSP's back for round after round, but I didn't think he could do it to Fitch, either. -- Mark from Boise

Mike Whitman, news editor: First things first. One does not simply walk into a cage and throw Fitch into a torture chamber like that. For Maia to perform that feat gives us plenty cause to seriously think about whether he could do the same to St. Pierre under the right circumstance.

These expectations of greatness are nothing new for Maia, who looked like a world-beater up until his ill-fated Jean Claude Van Damme impression against Nate Marquardt. Though we would later find out that Maia was no match for Anderson Silva -- arguably the greatest fighter of all time, mind you -- we were nonetheless treated to a host of dominant performances from the jiu-jitsu ace at 185 pounds, including a first-round submission of Chael Sonnen in which he tossed the former Olympic wrestling alternate on his dome and quickly submitted him thereafter.

Think about that last sentence and then compare it to what we have previously established about Fitch. Name me another guy at either weight class who could throw Sonnen like that and then catch Fitch’s back for the better part of 15 minutes. On the mat, Maia is in a class by himself as far as the UFC’s welterweight division is concerned. Oddly enough, the Brazilian’s methods of getting the fight to the floor have been comparatively ignored. I know it is counterintuitive to say this about a BJJ guy, but Maia has really good takedowns.

While I probably would not make him the betting favorite against Nick Diaz or Carlos Condit, I definitely think he is capable of repeating the trick he pulled on Fitch against either of those men. Against St. Pierre, I think the task will be considerably tougher. The champion puts in so much work to defend the takedown that I think there is a good possibility that Maia’s face might look a lot like Josh Koscheck’s did after UFC 124.

If Maia were able to either trip St. Pierre to the mat or catch his back from the clinch, I think we might easily see a replay of the Fitch fight. I just don’t think that Maia would be able to secure either of those positions with any kind of regularity. St. Pierre’s technique is too solid, his movements too explosive.

Even so, I do not believe GSP would prove Maia’s toughest test at 170. That distinction belongs to Johny Hendricks. Though Maia, also a southpaw, is better equipped to avoid Hendrick’s atomic overhand left than many of Hendricks’ previous opponents, I still think the threat of the American’s power punching coupled with his compact frame and elite wrestling base would make him a serious pain in Maia’s behind.

Regardless, Maia deserves to be in that top 5 discussion. I would not be surprised if he found himself fighting for the belt in the not-too-distant future, provided he picks up another win or two in the UFC’s stacked welterweight division.

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