The Hit List: The Top 5 Moments from Maia vs. LaFlare
Submissions, comebacks, guts and more! Check out the five top moments of UFC Fight Night: Demian Maia vs. Ryan LaFlare, and then let us know your picks in the comments section and on Twitter.
'The Lioness' Roars
Amanda Nunes is one of the women's bantamweight division's forgotten contenders. Losing in the second round via TKO will do that to a fighter.
Last September, Nunes came out smashing against No. 1 contender Cat Zingano in the first round. Zingano looked to be on her way out of the fight, but stormed back in the second (as she does) and stopped the Brazilian with strikes from the mount.
On Saturday, "The Lioness" had a chance to get back on track against one of the most experienced and accomplished women in MMA, Shayna Baszler, on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Rio. Nunes, now training full time with the American Top Team, looked to be a class above and ended the fight quickly with ferocious strikes.
In a division so desperate for title challengers, Nunes may just be another impressive win or two away from a title shot. If she continues her war path in 2015, it could very well lead to a title bout within a year or so.
Erick Silva Puts It Together
The UFC's welterweight division isn't friendly to young, top prospects. Such parity exists at the top levels of the 170-pound class that it is rare when a promising fighter can actually fully pan out and reach the often unreasonable expectations we place on them.
Brazilian Erick Silva has looked great at times, and then fallen short against elite fighters like Matt Brown, Dong Hyun Kim and Jon Fitch. Since entering the UFC in 2012, "Indo" has alternated between wins and losses, every two fights ... up until now.
Saturday night, Silva put together a two-fight win streak for the first time in the UFC, with a submission victory over former world title challenger Josh Koscheck. Sure, Koscheck had fought and lost just three weeks prior, taken the fight with Silva on short notice, and is near retirement. But a win over "Kos" will always mean something.
Silva, and every other welterweight, still has an uphill battle to make their way to the top tier of the division. He's overcome a serious hump in the UFC, however, and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
Josh Koscheck's Guts
It wasn't a good idea for Koscheck to have jumped right back in the cage after losing badly to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184. At 37, Koscheck is well-worn after accomplished MMA and amateur wrestling careers, and taking on a much younger, fresher fighter on his home turf on short notice was risky.
Koscheck's risk didn't pay off for him, physically, but we can and always do appreciate the "TUF 1" standout's guts. For a decade, Koscheck has never shied away from even the scariest challenges.
Koshcheck fought the best of the best, always, and often fought on short notice, when the UFC asked him to. It has always been en vogue to talk about Koscheck as arrogant and prickly.
Perhaps he is both of those things; I don't know. I don't know the man.
What has always been clear, however, is that Koscheck is brave, and a warrior. Losing is never good, but not showing up is sometimes worse.
Josh Koscheck has always showed up, and whatever he does next, he'll be remembered as a great fighter for that alone.
Demian Maia's Grappling Mastery
Demian Maia's grappling skills are a wonder to watch to those who understand the base art of MMA. For those who don't, including multiple referees of Saturday's UFC Fight Night, start paying attention. You all might learn something.
Maia has become one of the very best fighters in the world in two divisions (middleweight and welterweight) based almost exclusively on his grappling skills. There is perhaps no other Brazilian Jiu Jitsu-based fighter who has used grappling mastery better to go as far as the 37-year-old has in the UFC.
Maia is the most dangerous fighter off his back in the world, and has been for nearly a decade. There is a reason Ryan LaFlare stood up from side mount (that's like punting on first and goal on the one yard-line, people!) and walked away in the fifth round.
What's more, Maia's base and connection while passing guard and going for submissions from top positions is fluid poetry in motion. Oh, and let's not forget Maia's takedown abilities.
Maia has made a career out of dominating the wrestling department against some of the sport's best wrestlers (Chael Sonnen, Jon Fitch and Jake Shields, for example), which should force us all to recognize something else about the ground specialist -- Demian Maia has some of the very best takedowns in MMA, period.
After fighting back from a serious bone infection that made him fear for his life, in 2014, Maia looked sharp against a very good, much younger and undefeated fighter in the main event of Saturday's card.
Submission Party
Ryan LaFlare was too good to let Demian Maia submit him Saturday, but a number of other fighters scored exciting finishes with holds. Obviously, I don't count Leandro Silva's fake submission (really, "Buscape," please stop the B.S. and admit the ref goofed) over Drew Dober.
Even without that farce, five other fights ended by submission Saturday night in Rio. Silva choked Koscheck, Santos choked Martin.
Godofredo "Pepey" Castro worked hard to finish a technical triangle choke on Andre Fili. Gilbert Burns was super-slick in chaining together submission attempts and finally finishing Alex Oliveira with a straight armbar.
It was fitting that fine Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was on display in the birthplace of not just BJJ, but MMA as well. KO's are nasty, but there is something especially dominant about compelling a completely conscious opponent to ask you to please stop.
Perhaps no one has dominated so many top opponents with grappling in modern MMA, the way Demian Maia has.
Amanda Nunes looks ready to flex her muscle in the bantamweight division, once more.
