Leading into UFC Chile, I predicted Kamaru Usman would make a declarative statement against Demian Maia in response to criticism from his one-sided victory over Emil Meek and also as an opportunity to outshine his nemesis, Colby Covington, the last person to face and defeat Maia. I felt certain that Usman would be successful in this undertaking, and he failed to do so. Now if someone did not watch the fight and just read the feedback and commentary from the MMA community on social media, you would think the fight was a drawn-out snoozer with more inactivity than Tim Tebow’s football career. But was it? Let’s look at a brief round-by-round breakdown before deconstructing this narrative.
The first round was anything but declarative for Usman. Although Usman outstruck Maia in the round 12-5 in significant strikes, we saw Maia land the two biggest strikes in the round, with a straight left at the 3:45 mark and a crisp step-in left in the final 30 seconds. A large portion of the round was spent with Usman in the twister stalemate position, where he was able to thwart Maia’s takedown attempt prior to the separation. This appeared to be a feel-out round where Maia dictated where the fight took place and landed the two biggest strikes. The long stretch of inactivity in this round was due to Maia holding Usman in the twister position. It made sense of Maia to do that and hope for an opening, but nonetheless, the inactivity was caused by Maia, hence the separation.
Usman came out much busier and looser in the first minute of the second round and threw power punches at about the 4:35 mark, where he missed a powerful left and an uppercut. He landed power strikes at 4:07 and the 0:45 mark. It was in this round where Usman began to stuff takedowns and hold Maia in a front headlock while throwing safe punches. Usman also came out active in the third. The most noteworthy moments of his activity in this round was when he connected with a very nice straight right at 4:30 and literally chased Maia down at 1:50 attempting a very wild standing hammer fist attempt. Round four began with a big right hand at 4:51 that saw Usman drop Maia and actively go for the finish. After the fast start, there was a decent stretch of inactivity prior to Usman looking for big shots at the end of the fourth.
Rounds 2-4 each saw Maia repeatedly attempt takedowns and fail, even inviting Usman to the mat at one point. In the final round, Usman came out active and throwing. Maia once again fails a takedown and again invites Usman to the mat without an attempt to get up. At 3:20, Usman lands big rights and chases Maia. 3:00 mark, stuffed takedown, followed by more front headlock punches. With two minutes remaining, Maia again fails to secure a takedown and invites Usman to the mat. Final minute, another failed takedown, another invitation. Final 30 seconds, head kick thrown by Usman followed by a heavy-handed combo attempted in final 20 seconds before connecting with a flush right in final 10 seconds. Usman gets the unanimous decision: 50-45, 49-46, 49-46.
This was not a thriller and was far from a showstopper. You won’t see this fight nominated as FOTY nominee, that’s for sure. And while as a spectator, I did not find it boring, as there was significant action in each round (save maybe the first round), let’s attempt to look at this from the perspective of someone who did find this fight boring. Which of the following party is responsible for the fight being boring: The fighter who threw 224 strikes or the fighter who threw 94? The fighter who, more than once, actually chased after his opponent or the opponent who lay on his back on at least three separate occasions inviting his opponent to the mat? The most repetitive aspect of the fight was Maia’s takedown attempts where Usman would continue to stuff the shots and land safe punches on the mat. Maia initiated this pattern, not Usman.
In all seriousness, I am struggling to understand how Usman would be criticized by those who found the fight boring, and not the man who repeatedly attempted the same failed offensive maneuver, lay prone on the mat, and actually ran away on separate occasions. I’m not criticizing Maia. Watching the fight, I understand why he did everything he did. He knows he’s one-dimensional, so he’s going to continue to try for the takedown as many times necessary so that he can earn a submission victory. And if he sees Usman setting up for a power shot or begin to land effective shots, he’s going to run away if that’s his best recourse. I’m merely pointing out how there is no logical explanation why Usman would be blamed for the fight being boring and Maia running away Scot free from these criticisms.
Before learning of Woodley’s separated shoulder, it was reasonable to criticize Woodley for his fight with Maia being completely inactive, but it seemed he carried the bulk of the criticism when he threw 131 punches and Maia, in five rounds ladies and gentlemen, threw a whopping 23 punches. One reason why Usman and Woodley might have been criticized while Maia seemed to elude these blows is because the winners are more open to criticism, with the spectator saying, “Yeah, you won, but I won’t give you credit because you bored us.” Meanwhile, the loser is an afterthought and escapes criticism. But after the moment passes, hopefully, we can look back at Woodley’s performance and say, “If he threw his shoulder out, it makes sense. We’ll give him a pass. Plus, it’s impressive he was able to stuff that many takedowns with a bum shoulder.” Likewise, with Usman, we can say, “If this guy truly injured both hands, wow, that took a lot of heart to continue on and win the closing rounds in spite of that.”
Usman himself used the word “excuse,” but winners don’t need excuses. So if a fighter calls attention to injuries sustained immediately after winning a fight, I believe it’s reasonable to conclude the fighter is being truthful. And earlier this week, Jimmy Smith corroborated Usman’s claim, stating that he ran into Usman on the streets and Usman was unable to close either hand. We do not have any official medical or injury reports in yet, but fans have been known to give fighters the benefit of the doubt when reasonable, and between the lack of motive for making an “excuse” after a win and the corroboration from Jimmy Smith, Usman certainly has earned the benefit of the doubt at this moment in time.
We need to make a distinction between a fighter not being successful in making a statement and the statement not being made due to a lack of effort. Usman threw heavy shots at one point or another in rounds 2-5, even dropping Maia, something that very rarely happens, and was actively going for the finish after dropping him. Even in the final minute, as timestamped, Usman was going for it. Usman is not an elite striker. His base is wrestling. So it seems odd to levy harsh criticisms at him for not getting a KO victory, since that’s the only way he’s going to try to get a stoppage over Demian Maia. Furthermore, Demian Maia has only been knocked out once in his career, and that was nearly one full decade ago, in 2009 in a TKO loss Nate Marquardt. The amount of criticism thrown Usman’s way is mind-boggling and disheartening. A wrestler is being criticized for not achieving something more than 30 other opponents have failed to do: finish Demian Maia, a legendary, future Hall of Famer who was ranked at #5 in the world coming into the fight.
There have been other main events in recent years with the approximate level of action or less that has not received large-scale criticism. UFC Fight Night 114’s main event, Sergio Pettis vs. Brandon Moreno, took place on August 5 of 2017, where Sergio Pettis, the winner, threw 244 punches and landed 84, and Moreno threw 193 punches and landed 70. Statically, Usman was more active than either man. Both men were more accurate by a small margin, but not more active, and neither man dropped their opponent in the fashion Usman dropped Maia. But much more telling is the UFC Fight Night 125 Main Event: Lyoto Machida vs. Eryk Anders. Eryk Anders landed 46 strikes (threw 94) and Machida, the winner, threw 116 and landed 62. Neither man received a fraction of the criticism Usman (294 thrown, 94 landed) has, who outlanded both men and even dropped his opponent. Clearly, Usman is not being judged the same as others, and thus not being judged fairly.
Now, if you are socially active in the MMA community, you will struggle to find any parity on this topic. Almost to a man, Usman will be criticized for being boring and that this performance was the latest example of that. We live primarily in a majority opinion society, where the validity of arguments are often judged by how many people agree or disagree with it. I can sit here and timestamp Usman’s activity, mention injured hands, and present other evidence that Usman was active in the fight and that, if the fight was boring, Maia would be the responsible party for that. But if 98 out of 100 people say Usman’s performance was boring, it feels hopeless for me to expect the reader to side with logic over the majority. Still, I implore you: free yourself form the mob mentality and think independently with evidence at your disposal.
But at the end of the day, even if the MMA community continues to lambaste Usman with criticism at every opportunity, it doesn’t matter. Sure, fan perception will affect how much money he ultimately makes in his career, so if you’re an Usman hater, that may be a small consolation. But Usman will be eating just fine going forward and, more importantly, all he wants is that welterweight strap and to be the best at his craft. And if he keeps winning, no amount of fan perception or criticism will change that. Fans can call him boring for his entire career, but if he keeps winning, it just doesn’t matter. His career will go forward and he will continue moving up. So while we have established the consolation for the Usman haters, here’s the consolation for the Usman fans or the sport’s purists who just want to see the best fight the best: nobody’s opinion matters. All that matters is all that Usman cares about: winning. Everything else: popularity, perceived entertainment appeal, etc., is just outside noise that the trained athlete has learned to drown out both inside and outside of battle.
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What are your thoughts on the fight between Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia?
