UFC
UFC on Fox 2: Demian Maia's coach says gameplan wasn't implemented against Chris Weidman
Jan 31, 2012 - 3:55:08 PM UFC on Fox 2: Demian Maia's coach says gameplan wasn't implemented against Chris Weidman

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

One of the more surprising things about Saturday's UFC on Fox 2 card was the performance of Demian Maia, and it wasn't a pleasant surprise.

The formerly prolific submission specialist relied on his striking game against Chris Weidman, and when he was taken down multiple times he simply worked to stand instead of utilizing his ground game. It seemed to be a continuation of a pattern seen in several fights in a row, but his coach says it wasn't at all the gameplan for the event.

"It wasn't what we expected," Maia's boxing coach Luis Carlos Dorea said in an interview with Tatame.com. "We wanted him to use boxing moves to try to take him down or bring him to the guard and use his Jiu-Jitsu. He focused a lot in Jiu-Jitsu on his trainings, but he kept fighting on his feet."

"He couldn't find the right distance to take him down and, when he tried, he was already tired. So it wasn't like we were expecting it to go."

Being unable to get into a rhythm of his own, Maia allowed Weidman to take control of the fight, and it led to a unanimous decision loss.

"We knew he had [lost] because it was even on the stand-up, but the takedowns made the difference," Dorea said. "The guy took him down in every round, always in the end, and he worked on that. He used the rules in his favor."

Penick's Analysis: Maia's continued straying away from his fantastic jiu jitsu game is disheartening, because he used to be one of the most entertaining submission fighters to watch. He hasn't stopped anyone since submitting Chael Sonnen at UFC 95. UFC 95 was almost three years ago. And that was fifth straight submission win he had posted in the UFC. His inability to continue that run, coupled with a change in his mentality in the cage, has made him a less effective fighter, and led to an ugly performance on Saturday night. He needs to figure out a way to get back to where he was, because that version of Demian Maia is thrilling to see inside the Octagon. What we saw on Saturday night was not.