One of the happy, unexpected benefits of the UFC 165 light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson being so drop dead awesome is that we stayed fixated on that fight for a solid week after the final verdict was announced.
We talked about its place in history, debated the necessity of a rematch, and picked sides for and against the decision to book Jones into a Super Bowl weekend title defense against Glover Teixeira in early February.
As a result, what was 18 days between events quickly shrunk to 11, and then single digits, to the point where it’s now only a handful of days before the Octagon lands in Barueri, Brazil for Ultimate Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields, an 11-fight card headlined by a battle between two of the sports top grapplers, welterweights Demian Maia and Jake Shields.
Need to know why to watch? You’ve come to the right place.
Welterweight Wrecking Ball
Has anyone looked as good in their first three fights in a new division against quality opposition as Maia has since dropping to welterweight?
Going down in weight meant going back to his grappling roots, and thus far, Maia has looked downright fierce. His awkward first-round injury TKO win over Dong Hyun Kim (more on him shortly) excluded, the Brazilian standout completely ran through Rick Story in his sophomore effort in the 170-pound ranks, and then manhandled Jon Fitch for three rounds, asserting himself as a viable challenger in what has historically been one of the deepest, most competitive weight classes in the UFC.
While he hasn’t garnered the same kind of post-fight bonus cash he did during his introduction to the UFC as a middleweight (five fights, four Submission of the Night awards), Maia has actually been more impressive in this new chapter of his career. His wrestling and entries into the clinch are much better, and the improvements he’s made in his stand-up force opponents to respect the southpaw’s hands much more now than in the past.
After Johny Hendricks, there isn’t really anyone solidified as being “next in line” in the welterweight title chase, so another one-sided win for Maia could put the 35-year-old Brazilian at the top of the list. Given how dominant he’s looked thus far, that could come to pass in the main event on Wednesday night.
Emerging Contenders Collide, Part I
Both Erick Silva and Dong Hyun Kim have done enough inside the Octagon to shed the “prospect” tag, but neither has made the leap to being considered a full-fledged contender as of yet either. That should change Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1 as the two square off in the co-main event of this Ultimate Fight Night card.
Kim has seemingly taken his game to another level since his aforementioned awkward first-round injury TKO loss to Maia back at UFC 148. In his last two showings, the South Korean “Stun Gun” has rag-dolled both Paulo Thiago and Siyar Bahadurzada, displaying an increased aggressiveness and willingness to push the action and look to finish.
Across the cage, Silva has been heralded as a future contender since his impressive 40-second knockout win over Luis Ramos in his UFC debut, and rebounded from his loss to Jon Fitch in the UFC 153 Fight of the Night with another quick and clinical first-round stoppage win back in June when he submitted Jason High in just over a minute.
The winner of this one will earn a place in the upper tier of the welterweight division, where future match-ups with well-known opposition await. They’ve each had solid runs to reach this point, but now only one of them can take the next step, and it should be an entertaining battle to determine which one of them it will be.
Is Thiago Silva Back?
Flashback to UFC 94…
A pair of Brazilian light heavyweights are set to meet in the co-main event. Both are undefeated. Both look to have bright futures ahead of them. Fighting in the penultimate bout of the night, Thiago Silva faced off with Lyoto Machida, with the victor moving on to challenge newly crowned champion “Suga” Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title.
Machida would go on to win the bout, stopping Silva as the horn sounded to end the first round, and eventually unseat Evans as the top dog in the 205-pound ranks. The loss marked the beginning of a three-year odyssey of injuries, underwhelming performances, and ultimately a pair of suspensions for Silva.
Back in June, the menacing member of “The Blackzilians” returned to the Octagon, earning Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night honors for is first-round knockout win over former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. For the first time in more than three years, Silva looked like the dangerous, ferocious striker of old.
He returns to the cage Wednesday night against veteran Matt Hamill, with an opportunity to establish himself as a dark horse contender in a division that is currently in a state of flux. With another dominant performance, the narrative following Silva will shift from whether he’ll ever be able to return to where he was heading into UFC 94 to how far up the light heavyweight ladder he’ll be able to climb going forward.
Mike Pierce’s Silent March to Contention
Without much fanfare, welterweight Mike Pierce has put together a four-fight winning streak, earning stoppages in two of his last three appearances. Despite his run of success in the cage, and an overall 9-3 mark under the UFC banner, the Portland, Oregon native has remained significantly under the radar when it comes to identifying potential contenders in the 170-pound ranks.
This time out, Pierce is tasked with welcoming Brazilian submission specialist Rousimar Palhares back to the cage and into the welterweight division for the first time, as “Toquinho” moves down in weight for his return to action following a nine-month suspension.
And the 17-5 veteran isn’t exactly happy about the appointment.
He’s vocalized his opinions of Palhares, calling him a “dirty fighter” and his continued sloth-like climb up the welterweight rankings. Frustrated and focused on proving he’s a threat in the deep and talented division, adding a fifth consecutive victory to his resume would force people to start to pay more attention to Pierce, especially if he adds another finish here.
Emerging Contender Collide, Part II
Kicking off Wednesday’s main card is a bantamweight clash between a pair of Top-10-ranked competitors – No. 5 Raphael Assuncao and No. 9 T.J. Dillashaw.
Each has earned four consecutive wins heading into this contest. Most recently, Assuncao earned a second-round submission win over Vaughan Lee, while Dillashaw earned a pair of stoppage wins in a six-week span, earning TKO victories over Issei Tamura and Hugo Viana at UFC 158 and UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Melendez respectively.
Prior to moving to the bantamweight ranks, Assuncao was a contender in the featherweight division, sharing the cage with the likes of Urijah Faber, Erik Koch, and Yves Jabouin. Dillashaw, meanwhile, emerged as “one to watch” by advancing to the finals of the bantamweight competition on Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, and has since made a rapid climb up the divisional ladder, joining fellow Team Alpha Male competitors Faber, Chad Mendes, and Joseph Benavidez in the Top 10 of their respective divisions.
While Dominick Cruz is expected to be the next man to share the cage with interim champion Renan Barao, the winner of this one will be near the top of the list of potential contenders as well. The bantamweights are always entertaining, and with two fighters sporting a combined 8-0 record inside the Octagon, this one should be no different.
