Demian Maia's Bait-and-Switch

by Mike Fagan on Aug 10, 2008 11:20 AM EDT in MMA Technique

The GIF above is actually from the fight with Ed Herman, and is the first of two times he pulled off this technique in that fight. He hit it again last night against Jason MacDonald, and I marked out pretty hard for it.

I wanted to point it out because it shows just how advanced his BJJ game is. He starts by allowing his opponent to start passing his guard. While Herman tries to push Maia's knee to the mat, Demian grabs wrist control and extends his arm forward. When Herman posts up on his left side, Maia brings his right leg back towards his head and then up around Herman's controlled arm into a triangle.

To those who listened to Luke's MMA Nation show last week, THIS is an example of world-class jiu jitsu.

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Maia’s hip movement is incredible. Look how many times he has to change angles on the bottom to get his legs into proper positions for the triangle. Fantastic stuff.

by Luke Thomas on Aug 10, 2008 12:07 PM EDT reply actions

Nice to see a move the purple belts do at my gym all the time.

by zeroword on Aug 10, 2008 12:30 PM EDT reply actions

Do they do it in the UFC?

by Luke Thomas on Aug 10, 2008 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions

On a lateral note, there were a couple of trolls at the bar last night. It is amazing how much crap some people can spew. Why did God those with the least common-sense, the strongest vocal cords?

One guy was lecturing about how he trains with Brock and about 50 other fighters (from 20 different academies). He was positive that Herring was going to handle Brock with ease because of Lesnar’s lack of experience. 20 minutes later, he was talking about how he predicted the outcome and new the wrestler would come through.

by Heenan on Aug 10, 2008 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

World class BJJ

Doesn’t mean you know moves that no one else knows. To some extent that’s true. World class just means you do the entire arsenal of BJJ at a very elite and accomplished level. If you’ve ever been to any top level grappling tournament, you’ll see black belts finish each other with very basic chokes.

by Luke Thomas on Aug 10, 2008 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree.

My intention was really to jab at comments like calling Rich Franklin’s last minute escape against Travis Lutter’s armbar a “Blue Belt” move and various other similar comments.

While Demian Maia is a prodigy in Jiu Jitsu, I believe that more due to his tremendous accomplishments and talent rather than the techniques he has used.

by zeroword on Aug 10, 2008 7:53 PM EDT up reply actions

There are only 3 grammatical errors and 5 mis-spelled words in my post. I’m awesome.

by Heenan on Aug 10, 2008 1:34 PM EDT reply actions

this was kind of reminiscent of the ending of Big Tim vs Big Nog, with th bjj guy being two to three moves ahead of the guy he was fighting.

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 10, 2008 2:15 PM EDT reply actions

My guess is there’s no rhyme or reason to it. I suspect the winner of that one will fight Maia. It should be real interesting watching Henderson against top jits players.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions

And this is why Maia tools every single time

People keep expecting him to be beaten on his feet. He’s too smooth on his feet in terms of his transition to a takedown. And once he gets you down, you really stay down.

Maia is in a class of his own at 185. It’s a shame people don’t realize it yet because Anderson Silva has made us believe KO’s are the only way to impress people.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Aug 10, 2008 4:49 PM EDT reply actions

wonder why they are giving Maia the slow and steady approach when they are throwing Rousimar Palhares into the deep water with his upcoming fight with Dan Henderson?

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 10, 2008 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I’ve been on Maia’s nuts since he came to the UFC. I heard about him before his first UFC fight, saw some video clips, and knew he was going to be a force with his bjj. I’ve been trying to tell people that they need to pay close attention to him and what he’s doing out there. This fight I was watching with a bunch of people who didn’t really know him, but obviously knew MacDonald. I told them he was going to make MacDonald tap and couldn’t convince them until they saw the fight. Think there’s a handful more Maia fans from that room now, though.

I have to give MacDonald some props, though, because I thought Maia would finish it in the first, especially when he actually got into position to sub him out. MacDonald was tougher to finish than I expected.

by Kierkegaard on Aug 11, 2008 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions

an exciting prospect

But he has so far to go on his feet. His stand up has so many holes and so many guys know how to neutralise BJJ on the ground now.

by Benicio on Aug 10, 2008 5:28 PM EDT reply actions

Not many in the world can neutralize

... the level of jits that Maia brings to the table. Let me put it to you this way. He knows how to submit guys when he’s tired. He’s done it twice in a row now. He’s done it in competition, as well. When you get fatigued, your body not only reacts slower but your mind does as well. He keeps on going like it’s the first minute of the first round in terms of his mental strength and body reaction. That’s tough for anyone to gameplan for. You have to remember, as well, that Maia’s stand-up game is improving under the guidance of Wanderlei Silva. When Wanderlei Silva says you have a hard chin, you have a hard chin. Maia will knock someone out in his career. It’s coming soon.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Aug 10, 2008 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Man you are pumped about Maia. I don’t mean that as an insult either – judging by your previous posts on him, you are genuinely a fan. Above, you pointed out his ability to submit people in his last two fights while tired. Does his inability to make it out of the first round without gassing concern you? As I said above, I’m a big Maia fan but I didn’t like the fact that he gassed in the 1st round of his fight against Ed Herman and he did it against last night. In addition to his striking, he needs to step his conditioning up.

(formerly TheFightJournal)

by Lucas2 on Aug 10, 2008 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I built his Wikipedia page

... and I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. There’s a reason I am pumped, Lol.

His conditioning against Herman did bother me until I learned he was suffering from the flu just before that fight which hampered his cardio that night. While it did look like he was starting to gas last night, he really looked like he could have kept going. It wasn’t like he was breathing super hard. He knows how to conserve his energy on the ground in order to get things done. He’s not like most guys in MMA who just go full boar on the ground in order to pull something off. He knows how to conserve and pull things off even when most guys are too tired to. His stand-up is improving. Training with Wanderlei will help him. Wanderlei said that Maia’s muay thai is very good and Wandy went on to say that he’d tag Maia but Maia would never go down and Wandy couldn’t beat Maia in a muay thai match they had against each other. To show the improvement his striking has had, watch the second round last night against MacDonald. Maia landed a beautiful counter left hook that basically rocked MacDonald for the rest of the round and led to Maia dominating that round. Maia is a beast. And I can’t get enough of his fights. It’s about time he got main card time. He’ll get Kampmann or Marquardt next most likely. They both scare me because of their striking game but when that fight goes to the ground, and it definitely will, Maia is world’s above their jits.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Aug 10, 2008 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions