UFC 95 Undercard - Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen

Brazil is the breeding ground for some of the best UFC fighters in the world and Demian Maia is another great athlete from this region, hailing from Sao Paulo. He comes into this fight undefeated but will be facing his toughest opponent yet in Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen has fought some of the best in UFC and is an excellent wrestler. The question is going to be whether or not Maia can overtake Sonnen with skill or if Sonnen’s experience will be too much for Maia.

Let’s analyze the fight.

Demian Maia -300 vs. Chael Sonnen +220

Demian Maia

Strengths: Maia is a traditional Brazilian fighter in the sense that his game concentrates mainly on getting his opponents to the ground and then forcing them into submissions. He has an uncanny ability to do that. Maia’s won his last four bouts by choking his opponents into submission. One of those victims was Nate Quarry who is a well respected fighter in the UFC.

Weaknesses: Maia doesn’t have a whole lot of weaknesses. His style is conducive to terrific defense, he rarely leaves himself open, and he’s an incredibly patient fighter. The one weakness might be that Maia doesn’t have any real striking ability.

Chael Sonnen

Strengths: Sonnen’s strength is his experience and pressure ability. He’s a very good wrestler which means he won’t fall into Maia’s submission traps as easily as some others have and he is good enough to pressure Maia for the entire fight. He can keep Maia guessing for a long time with his ability on the ground.

Weaknesses: Sonnen’s biggest weakness is that he doesn’t have the striking ability that a fighter needs in order to take Maia out or keep Maia from getting him to the ground. Sonnen almost has to fight Maia on the ground. That plays into Maia’s strengths.

Analysis: Chael Sonnen has experience but that only takes you so far. Maia is just a monster on the ground and since Sonnen’s best chance is to fight with Maia on the mat, the fight is in Maia’s hands. Despite Sonnen being a strong wrestler, Maia is just a scary good submission specialist. This fight could end early with Sonnen trying to outwrestle Maia and Maia getting Sonnen to submit easily. There’s just no way I see where Sonnen can win this. This is an excellent match-up for Demian Maia.

Pick: Demian Maia at -300