Back in July Demian Maia made his welterweight debut and in some viewers eyes ran through top contender Dong Hyun Kim. Kim suffered a rib injury early in the first round allowing Maia to capitalize and secure his first win at 170. Maia shut the viewers/critics up when he humiliated Rick Story at UFC 153 leaving fans wondering who is next?
After watching Kim destroy a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Paulo Thiago and control him on the ground, maybe Maia might of dodged a bullet with Kim getting hurt early the night they fought. I’m not taking anything away from Maia who is no joke on the ground and think he is definitely reborn at 170, but who will really challenge him in his next fight?
Speculation these days points at Koscheck fighting Nick Diaz upon his return and Thiago Alves has said he is taking time off until the summer of 2013.
The other two fighters I could see being a threat for Maia besides Kim, is Dan Hardy, who also seems to be reborn within the welterweight division. Hardy could test Maia’s chin of which we all know is semi weak after watching Nate Marquardt knock Maia out early in the first round. Yet that was also awhile ago and in a different weight class.
I think we all know that Maia versus Jon Fitch would probably make the most sense right now, but I think the UFC knows that would be a boring fight. The winner of Kampmann/Hendricks at UFC 154 could be next for Maia as well.
Kim said in a post fight interview on Fuel TV that he wants Maia in a rematch and I think he deserves it. Kim showed great power, wrestling, and demonstrated solid submission skills against Thiago. I know Thiago and Maia are on different levels, but I definitely think Kim showed he can hang with tough grapplers. Kim can beat a black belt in BJJ, but what a better test to see him in a rematch with a 4th degree black belt in Demian Maia.
Watch this fun preview of the first fight between Kim and Maia in the video below.
Video courtesy of the UFC.