UFC 214

[CB Jones]

Yeah....the Woodley v Maia fight was hard to watch. I was happy with all the fights except that one.

All in all....it was a great card.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Honestly not impressed with jones. All he has is range that's his main weapon if him and dc were equal size dc would've won easy. The hardest fight jones ever had was Gustafson and why was that? Because he didnt have a huge height advantage

Jones can fight both on the outside and the inside. From what I saw he took his time instead of trying to rush in an overwhelm the fighter like many MMA fighters tend to do. Him doing that is a sign of his maturity as a fighter. It also looked as he understood where he would be most vulnerable. To have a shorter fighter with shorter arms and legs on his inside would not be to his advantage. You always fight were your opponent is weak. Never let your opponent dictate where the fight will be, and Jones did just that. It was up to Cormier to get around the range. Jones did a good job of escaping the grappling attempts by Cormier. Cormier took a lot of low kicks to his legs and mid section. There was completely no defensive ability to kicks as if his plan was to just absorb those kicks in exchange for a chance to get closer.

Cormier's biggest mistakes were that he chased, didn't utilize low kicks as much as he should have, and didn't counter kicks, there are counters to the low kick that Jones does but the ones I know are traditional solutions and not "MMA" solutions. I thought it was a text book fight.

 

[JowGaWolf]

DC was a great champ but JBJ has too many attributes...

More techniques means more options. Range is not as big of a factor as many put it. Range has a weakness as well. Tyson used to exploit his opponent's range all the time.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Pre-fight analysis:

Post-fight analysis:

 

[JowGaWolf]

Pre-fight analysis:

Post-fight analysis:

I have no problem fighting while moving backwards. It gives the illusion that my opponent is dominating me or at the very least has the upperhand. In reality I'm completely focused and calm, and waiting to take advantage of my opponent right when he's advancing. The worse thing my opponent can do for himself is to chase me. A chasing opponent is basically a green light for me to take advantage of him.

When we fight our brain will usually do one thing at a time. We either focus on atrack or focus on advancing, or focus on defending. Our brains rarely if at all do these things at the same time (which is why techniques are important). If you can catch your opponent's brain doing this singular processing then you'll be able to exploit your opponent and win with ease.

 

[Headhunter]

Anyone hearing the rubbish Woodley is saying right now? He's demanding an apology from dana white and saying if gsp doesn't fight him then by default he's the best welterweight to ever live....this guy has become a total idiot since he became champion. Always trying to avoid the top contenders and only fought them because he forced them to and then saying the only reason people don't like him is because they're racist...

 

[Steve]

Why is he trying to fight all the senior citizens?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

The Maia/Woodley fight was rough to watch but a very smart fight by Woodley. Make him shoot over and over again and stuff it. Then pepper him from distance. Smart if boring.

I wanted DC to win. Like him as a champion but Jones is just to good. Even though I think he is a jerk.

Cyborg. Obviously roided throughout her career but is going to be very hard now and going forward. Still she is a beast!

 

[nordin]

The Maia/Woodley fight was rough to watch but a very smart fight by Woodley. Make him shoot over and over again and stuff it. Then pepper him from distance. Smart if boring.

Do you know how much sh*t Anderson had to take from Dana and fans for using similar strategy while actually doing MORE damage to Maia? In hist last championship fight at the time he fought Thales Leitis who absolutely avoided any fighting and constantly kept falling on the ground hoping that Silva would follow in his guard. Dana said that he's embarrassed by Silva not finishing him. Then Silva goes to fight Maia and here is another grappler who has no intention to bring fight to champion. Yes Silva did showboat showing that Maias only plan depends on him following to ground, but that actually made Maias job easier, since Silva often did dangerous footwork where it would be easier to take him down. Despite all the crazy movement Maia couldn't take him down and got repeatedly kicked and punched by crazy unorthodox strikes. Somewhere in third round people started to chant GSP, GSP - great fighter but also extremely safe one who had not finished single fight at the time for more than a year and half. I imagine Andersons blood was boiling- he had one of the highest finish rates in UFC, he had no decisions wins for 6 years, yet people booed him despite grappler avoiding any other contact other then takedown/pulling guard. Later Dana made Silva apologize to fans. FOR WHAT??? Doing same thing Tyron did just in much more entertaining manner?

 

[Headhunter]

Do you know how much sh*t Anderson had to take from Dana and fans for using similar strategy while actually doing MORE damage to Maia? In hist last championship fight at the time he fought Thales Leitis who absolutely avoided any fighting and constantly kept falling on the ground hoping that Silva would follow in his guard. Dana said that he's embarrassed by Silva not finishing him. Then Silva goes to fight Maia and here is another grappler who has no intention to bring fight to champion. Yes Silva did showboat showing that Maias only plan depends on him following to ground, but that actually made Maias job easier, since Silva often did dangerous footwork where it would be easier to take him down. Despite all the crazy movement Maia couldn't take him down and got repeatedly kicked and punched by crazy unorthodox strikes. Somewhere in third round people started to chant GSP, GSP - great fighter but also extremely safe one who had not finished single fight at the time for more than a year and half. I imagine Andersons blood was boiling- he had one of the highest finish rates in UFC, he had no decisions wins for 6 years, yet people booed him despite grappler avoiding any other contact other then takedown/pulling guard. Later Dana made Silva apologize to fans. FOR WHAT??? Doing same thing Tyron did just in much more entertaining manner?

The probably isn't they fought technically but both silva and Woolley could easily have finished Maia silva nearly knocked him out with a knee in the second but both chose to not engage the whole fight. If they weren't capable of finishing it then fine but both couldve easily done it

 

[nordin]

The probably isn't they fought technically but both silva and Woolley could easily have finished Maia silva nearly knocked him out with a knee in the second but both chose to not engage the whole fight. If they weren't capable of finishing it then fine but both couldve easily done it

I'm sorry but I don't agree on this one. Woodley fight is different story since Maia did a lot more standup setups and strong takedowns, but Silva fight was BS.
Anderson's flying knee in last 50 seconds in first round barely grazed Maia. He fell down because of his unbalanced footwork and Anderson's subsequent push with palm to other side, but his head never bounced back, his legs never went limp and he even broke the fall with his arm falling perfectly in guard position. He was absolutely ready to attack from bottom.
It is very old grappler/infighter trick to exaggerate damage or knockdown to bait opponent into guard or clinch. Werdum submitted Fedor after getting knocked down like that, Frank Mir submitted Brock after getting battered with huge hammer fists for 2 minutes. Mir was even really hurt, but submitted Nogueira - a BJJ black belt.

Silva could easily finish Maia IF Maia would show some respect and do anything except few telegraphed takedowns and guard pulling. Check this out: Maia was standing for almost whole first round pretending to use faints and hitting air while being so far that nothing would ever land. Silva saw that this is Leitis fight all over again. Just because Maia is bouncing on his feet and doing half punches in the air does NOT mean that he is attacking or setting anything up. Whenever Silva closed distance, Maia run backwards, shot weak takedown or fell to the ground. When Silva didn't attack, Maia kept bouncing in place faraway and did NOTHING.
Ref Mike Beltran in 2014 actually DQ Daniel Aguiar, who is also accomplished BJJ fighter, in his fight against Sam Toomer for VERY similar fighting method like Maia and Leitis did based on fact that timidity is a foul by MMA rules. Aguiar actually did more than Leitis and Maia yet he was DQ. So for Silva to do reckless stuff like jump in Maia guard would be crazy.

 

[Headhunter]

I'm sorry but I don't agree on this one. Woodley fight is different story since Maia did a lot more standup setups and strong takedowns, but Silva fight was BS.
Anderson's flying knee in last 50 seconds in first round barely grazed Maia. He fell down because of his unbalanced footwork and Anderson's subsequent push with palm to other side, but his head never bounced back, his legs never went limp and he even broke the fall with his arm falling perfectly in guard position. He was absolutely ready to attack from bottom.
It is very old grappler/infighter trick to exaggerate damage or knockdown to bait opponent into guard or clinch. Werdum submitted Fedor after getting knocked down like that, Frank Mir submitted Brock after getting battered with huge hammer fists for 2 minutes. Mir was even really hurt, but submitted Nogueira - a BJJ black belt.

Silva could easily finish Maia IF Maia would show some respect and do anything except few telegraphed takedowns and guard pulling. Check this out: Maia was standing for almost whole first round pretending to use faints and hitting air while being so far that nothing would ever land. Silva saw that this is Leitis fight all over again. Just because Maia is bouncing on his feet and doing half punches in the air does NOT mean that he is attacking or setting anything up. Whenever Silva closed distance, Maia run backwards, shot weak takedown or fell to the ground. When Silva didn't attack, Maia kept bouncing in place faraway and did NOTHING.
Ref Mike Beltran in 2014 actually DQ Daniel Aguiar, who is also accomplished BJJ fighter, in his fight against Sam Toomer for VERY similar fighting method like Maia and Leitis did based on fact that timidity is a foul by MMA rules. Aguiar actually did more than Leitis and Maia yet he was DQ. So for Silva to do reckless stuff like jump in Maia guard would be crazy.

It was a bit more than a graze did you see his face at the end of the fight...anyway yeah maias good but so I Anderson silva he's a black belt under noguiera and he's a guy who's fought at light heavyweight and Maia fights at welterweight now so silvas a lot bigger he could've finished him. As it's always said Jiu Jitsu is great when you're not being punched in the face. A few hard elbows to Maia on the ground he'd have crumbled

 

[nordin]

It was a bit more than a graze did you see his face at the end of the fight...anyway yeah maias good but so I Anderson silva he's a black belt under noguiera and he's a guy who's fought at light heavyweight and Maia fights at welterweight now so silvas a lot bigger he could've finished him. As it's always said Jiu Jitsu is great when you're not being punched in the face. A few hard elbows to Maia on the ground he'd have crumbled

Look I don't want to argue. There can be many different view points. But Silva was smart NOT trying to catch Maia when he in essence was bending rules(timidity) if not doing fouls.
Why SIlva has to follow in his guard? To test how good is his top game against BJJ legend?
Why he has to turn this into BJJ match with ground punches?
It is unbelievable that champ who finished every UFC opponent before has to sprint just to catch opponent. Then after first landed punch he is expected to follow in trap- opponents guard which is his strongest suit and getting criticised for not doing that.
After first round there were no signs of cut or bruising on Maia face and he wasn't dazed. Cuts at the END of fight show how hard Silva tried to get to Maia who always avoided exchanges and shaved time sitting on ground and resting. Even if he was bit hurt we are talking about Pan America and ADCC multiple time world champion who submitted much heavier Fernando Di Piero, Fábio Nascimento, Flávio Almeida and outpointed Rafael Lovato, Bruno Bastos(220 lbs) etc. These are grappling beasts - champs and medalists who eat and breath bjj and are heavier. BTW Silva did welterweight 4 years before the fight and 168 lbs 8 years earlier. Combine that with fact that grapplers do exaggerate damage to get others in guard without actually DOING something ala Werdum and one can see that Silva got criticised for just not being stupid.

 

[Steve]

Look I don't want to argue. There can be many different view points. But Silva was smart NOT trying to catch Maia when he in essence was bending rules(timidity) if not doing fouls.
Why SIlva has to follow in his guard? To test how good is his top game against BJJ legend?
Why he has to turn this into BJJ match with ground punches?
It is unbelievable that champ who finished every UFC opponent before has to sprint just to catch opponent. Then after first landed punch he is expected to follow in trap- opponents guard which is his strongest suit and getting criticised for not doing that.
After first round there were no signs of cut or bruising on Maia face and he wasn't dazed. Cuts at the END of fight show how hard Silva tried to get to Maia who always avoided exchanges and shaved time sitting on ground and resting. Even if he was bit hurt we are talking about Pan America and ADCC multiple time world champion who submitted much heavier Fernando Di Piero, Fábio Nascimento, Flávio Almeida and outpointed Rafael Lovato, Bruno Bastos(220 lbs) etc. These are grappling beasts - champs and medalists who eat and breath bjj and are heavier. BTW Silva did welterweight 4 years before the fight and 168 lbs 8 years earlier. Combine that with fact that grapplers do exaggerate damage to get others in guard without actually DOING something ala Werdum and one can see that Silva got criticised for just not being stupid.

You're Anderson Silva. Aren't you?

 

[Headhunter]

You're Anderson Silva. Aren't you?

He wishes lol

 

[Headhunter]

Look I don't want to argue. There can be many different view points. But Silva was smart NOT trying to catch Maia when he in essence was bending rules(timidity) if not doing fouls.
Why SIlva has to follow in his guard? To test how good is his top game against BJJ legend?
Why he has to turn this into BJJ match with ground punches?
It is unbelievable that champ who finished every UFC opponent before has to sprint just to catch opponent. Then after first landed punch he is expected to follow in trap- opponents guard which is his strongest suit and getting criticised for not doing that.
After first round there were no signs of cut or bruising on Maia face and he wasn't dazed. Cuts at the END of fight show how hard Silva tried to get to Maia who always avoided exchanges and shaved time sitting on ground and resting. Even if he was bit hurt we are talking about Pan America and ADCC multiple time world champion who submitted much heavier Fernando Di Piero, Fábio Nascimento, Flávio Almeida and outpointed Rafael Lovato, Bruno Bastos(220 lbs) etc. These are grappling beasts - champs and medalists who eat and breath bjj and are heavier. BTW Silva did welterweight 4 years before the fight and 168 lbs 8 years earlier. Combine that with fact that grapplers do exaggerate damage to get others in guard without actually DOING something ala Werdum and one can see that Silva got criticised for just not being stupid.

Fact is both fought like garbage in that fight. Silva clowned around like an idiot and refused to engage after the 2nd round and Maia was doing nothing but takedown attempts. Bad fight for both of them but hey at least Maia went for it in the 5th round and started swinging at him hard.

 

[nordin]

You're Anderson Silva. Aren't you?

"Is normal"
No actually there are several ideas that are widely accepted in MMA community that has never been explained or discussed like Overeem is one of the best kickboxers in MMA, all BJJ students comes from Gracie linage, Chael has a dangerous GnP, UFC1 was test for SPECIALISTS of different martial disciplines etc. I simply don't agree with them completely and am ready to explain why. When I saw Woodley fight it reminded SIlva fight as well as first Werdum vs Overeem fight, Daniel Aguiar fight and I wanted to mention that there is a pattern in those fights.

 

[nordin]

Fact is both fought like garbage in that fight. Silva clowned around like an idiot and refused to engage after the 2nd round and Maia was doing nothing but takedown attempts. Bad fight for both of them but hey at least Maia went for it in the 5th round and started swinging at him hard.

"Fact" - Ok, if you look at it like that I can respect your opinion.
My only question would be what do you think of timidity rule? Is it needed? If yes what would be a case(example)?

 

[Headhunter]

"Fact" - Ok, if you look at it like that I can respect your opinion.
My only question would be what do you think of timidity rule? Is it needed? If yes what would be a case(example)?

Anderson silva was the one showing timidity at least Maia was trying to do something where as silva was running behind the referee

 

[nordin]

Anderson silva was the one showing timidity at least Maia was trying to do something where as silva was running behind the referee

OK obviously we have different opinions of what "to do something'' means. I think he did enough (as you mentioned Maia's face at the end) and you think he should have followed in guard to grapple and elbow him.
I asked your opinion on what is timidity in wider context. Did Werdum showed timidity against Overeem in Strikeforce fight? Was Daniel Aguiar timid against Tommer? Yuichiro Nagashima vs Shinya Aoki? What about Clay Guida vs Maynard?