In one of the most highly-anticipated middleweight match-ups we've seen this year, former seven-time King of Pancrase and former UFC middleweight contender Nate Marquardt (28-8-2) will look to stop the Brazilian jiu-jitsu prowess of undefeated Brazilian Demian Maia (10-0) on Saturday evening at UFC 102. Marquardt is currently riding a two-fight win streak with victories over Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia at UFC 88 and UFC 95 respectively while Maia is coming off a win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 95.

Marquardt began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, Wing Chun, and Kenpo as a teenager, but he didn't become seriously invested in jiu-jitsu until he was 18 years old when he trained under Ricardo Murgel. a 8th degree black belt. Marquardt earned his 2nd degree black belt in jiu-jitsu under Murgel after years of instruction. But don't believe that this ground master is a purely one-dimensional fighter. He's far from it.

Not only does Marquardt possess a fundamentally sound ground game, he has been improving his stand-up game immensely over the past few fights. Most notably, he claims to be training with some K-1 level fighters along with gaining instruction from Trevor Wittman, a boxing coach who has trained some of the best in the world. He's also added Georges St. Pierre's strength coach, Jonathan Chaimberg, to his training regiment, and he still has training partners Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Joey Villasenor, Elliot Marshall, Shane Carwin, and Georges St. Pierre pushing him to become a legitimate challenge for the crown once again.

Demian Maia is a completely different beast altogether. Unlike Marquardt, Demian is mostly known for being a completely one-dimensional grappler that just so happens to be one of the most dynamic and intuitive BJJ practitioners in the sport today. He currently holds a second-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu along with a laundry list of grappling championship wins and ADCC wins. 

What makes Demian Maia so much better than most Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts in the Octagon? He's been able to adapt Brazilian jiu-jitsu into a truly offensive weapon, something that many jiu-jitsu fighters in the UFC have had problems doing effectively. Even if we look down the line of other phenomenal black belts who moved into the world of MMA such as Marcelo Garcia and Cristiano Marcello, you won't find a grappler as successful in pulling off transition after transition and continually keeping opponents in danger like Demian Maia.

This is truly one of the most intriguing fights we've seen in a long time in terms of a style match-up. While Maia is simply known as a one-dimensional fighter, he's on another level when it comes to his BJJ skills within the framework of MMA. He doesn't struggle badly in gaining takedowns, even against competition that obviously knows that it's his intention. Once on the ground, he moves smoothly from transition to transition for attempts and puts opponents in danger in nearly every position. Check out some of our excellent technique articles on Demian Maia here, here, and here.

The real problem for Maia comes down to the striking game and the defensive jiu-jitsu techniques that Nate Marquardt possesses. Maia has been training with Wanderlei Silva's team to improve his striking, but he'll definitely be at a disadvantage in this fight. Marquardt has the better striking, solid conditioning, and a plethora of experience against very tough competition, something Maia has yet to truly reckon with in his career. This will undoubtedly be Maia's toughest test to date, and Marquardt has already been in some of the toughest tests in his career.

The huge focus for this fight from fans and writers alike is the ground game. If the fight hits the floor, it becomes Marquardt's defensive capabilties against Maia's advanced jiu-jitsu prowess. While many fans would point out that Marquardt's black belt credentials should be enough for him to recognize Maia's attempts, it isn't that simple. Maia's knowledge of baiting opponents into attempts and subsequently transitioning from position to position while simultaneously attempting different submissions can be overwhelming. 

Marquardt's BJJ has been more of a defensive attribute to his skill-set rather than an offensive threat in his career. Even in his days in Pancrase, he became much more of a fighter who tried to knockout opponents over a submission style of fighting. A perfect example was his battle with Ricardo Almeida back in those years in which Almeida easily controlled the bout from top control while Marquardt remained defensive throughout the bout, eventually succumbing to a guillotine choke followed by a kick to the face by Renzo Gracie adding insult to injury. Today, Marquardt is visibly bigger, much more improved, and a better striker than in those days, but his jiu-jitsu remains similar to his style in the past five to six years.

This fight should have a lot of excitement surrounding it from fans. It's not only an intriguing style match-up, but the outcome of the bout will likely give the winner a title shot. There are rumblings that Marquardt may have to wait in line if he happens to defeat Maia, but Maia will likely be pushed into a title contender slot if he can pull off the win. Most fans are going to be picking Nate Marquardt in this fight for his much more well-rounded skill-set, but are fans underestimating the jiu-jitsu prowess of Demian Maia? We'll find out on Saturday night.