Everything written about Demian Maia since the Silva-Leites title fight discussed how Maia was the biggest loser. People took up their sides arguing that the UFC would not give Maia the fight because of his Jiu-Jitsu focus. Then all the Maia supporters laid claim how Maia and Thales are different fighters. Guess what, they are both completely correct.
Despite it not being the match up I am dying to see, Maia/Silva would be more exciting from Maia's perspective. Anderson would be even more reserved and not attack at all. It would be 25 minutes of Anderson picking apart Maia from a distance and never going for the kill. If he did not want to risk it again Thales then he definitely is not going to risk it against the best grappler in the entire organization.
As usual I have gone off on a tangent about something I did not intend to write about. DAMIAN MAIA DOES NOT DESERVE A TITLE SHOT BECAUSE OF THALES LEITES, BUT NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR STYLES. NEITHER OF THEM HAVE FACED THE COMPETITION TO EARN A TITLE SHOT. I am not saying the same thing would happen to Maia, but something we definitely learned after the Leites/Silva fight is that Leites was not ready. He lost confidence early in the fight and resorted to half-butt (still not sure what I can write) takedown attempts. A fighter who was known for his ability to take punishment and push the fight ended up sulking in the corner for the last 3 rounds. Apparantly wins against Pete Sell, Floyd Sword (how is this not a Comic Book Superhero Name), Ryan Jensen, and Drew McFredries does not prepare you for a main card, title fight, against arguably the pound for pound king. I obviously left out Nate because Thales needed two penalties to win a split decision. I know a win is a win, but a competitor does not gain confidence with that win.
Maia has the same problem, even though it is not his fault. Despite Sonnen's belief that he can beat Anderson Silva, Maia has not faced top tier talent. He has faced gatekeeper after gatekeeper, but that will all change after UFC 102 when he fights the most well rounded middleweight not named Anderson Silva; Nate Maruardt. Nate has shown noticeable improvement since his last title shot and the winner of this fight will definitely have earned a shot for the title. I am ignoring Henderson/Bisping fight because this post is not about if Maia can get a title shot right now, but if he has officially earned the opportunity.
To be fair, not facing the best competition is not Maia or Leites's fault. The depth at the middleweight division is weak and it is no surprise why Hendo has forgotten about fighting at 205 and why Bisping moved down to middleweight. However, despite it not being their fault it does not mean they are ready. Some MAC schools might be as good as the teams in the Big 12, but they need to play a tough non-conference schedule to prepare them for the big games. Beating up other MAC teams does not prove anything.
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