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Sakara=Excitement

12-06-2010 09:13 AM

Demian Maia compliments Kendall Grove on his BJJ defense

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Quote:

Demian Maia, speaking to MMA Junkie following the TUF 12 Finale, compliments Kendall Grove on his BJJ defense:

"I'm happy because I won, of course," Maia said. "I wanted to submit him in this fight, but Kendall was smart. At one point I was baiting him to go to the side when I was on his back because I wanted to switch to the arm-and-neck submission.

"He didn't go even though his corner was saying, 'Go to the side, go to the side. Escape your hips.' He was not escaping, and I was like, '[Expletive]!' After the fight, he said to me, 'You wanted me escape my hips to that side so you could switch to that submission.' I said, 'Yeah, you're smart.'"

stpierrecanada

12-06-2010 10:48 AM

Big fan of Kendall since the show. Very talented but doesn't show his true potential I believe. Maia is climbing his way back up but in order to keep his status as one of the best BJJ artists he has to start submitting guy's again. It has been almost 2 years since he has gotten a submission win.

If he can't finish these fights it's going to be a long time before he gets another crack at the title. I'm not saying he should have to finish fights to fight for it again but you know Dana won't give it to him again unless he starts winning the way he should and convince the UFC he can make an exciting Championship fight.

MickeyKnox

12-06-2010 02:51 PM

Maia couldn't submit Mario Miranda or Kendall Grove. He had Miranda in mount position several times and I think he had his back as well. Same with Grove.

Hmm. Best BJJ ace in the UFC.

goodtimes

12-06-2010 04:03 PM

I think it's a problem with one-dimensional fighters that in order to beat them, you just need to be good enough in their strength to defend against it. Grove has pretty good BJJ, so did Maia's last few opponents. Maia's takedowns are looking better, but he does not have the same kind of control that the higher caliber wrestlers have. I think that's a natural evolution BJJ fighters should be working on, where wrestlers like Matt Hughes and Jake Shields have vastly improved their BJJ games, BJJ black belts should focus on their wrestling.

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