What We Learned: It is (almost) time for a Maia title shot
— -- Wacky stats are littered across mixed martial arts -- and really, professional sports in general. Dive deep enough into the numbers, there's a compelling stat line on just about anything.
Thirteen absorbed punches in four combined fights, though? That is truly absurd.
Demian Maia ran his welterweight win streak up to six on Saturday, submitting Carlos Condit via rear-naked choke in 112 seconds. According to Fightmetric, in the past 13 months, Maia has shared the cage with Condit, Matt Brown, Gunnar Nelson and Neil Magny -- and been hit exactly 13 times. This stat boggles the mind.
So, what does it mean moving forward? Here's What We Learned from last weekend's lineup of cage fights.
Maia absolutely, 100 percent deserves a UFC title shot -- right after that other guy
If Maia's recent run wasn't already amazing enough, consider he's also doing it at age 38. You really can't say it enough -- this is remarkable, remarkable stuff we're seeing.
But Maia's streak -- nor the fact he's up there in age, relatively speaking -- doesn't skip him ahead of Stephen Thompson at 170 pounds. Thompson is currently on a seven-fight win streak and his past two performances in particular -- convincing victories over Johny Hendricks and Rory MacDonald -- have clearly cemented his position of No. 1 contender.
If he has to, Maia says he'll wait for the winner of a potential matchup between current champ Tyron Woodley and Thompson. The interesting reality here is that Maia will be taking a gamble, whether he waits for a title shot or not.
The thing about waiting for a title shot is there is really never a guarantee you're actually next. And particularly in this situation, I mean, there is really no guarantee for Maia. You've got Georges St-Pierre talking comeback. Nick Diaz is re-entering the fold. Woodley is trying to call his own shots and he's only interested in big money fights, which Maia does not represent.
At the same time, as Maia himself pointed out after defeating Condit, he is a little older and any loss would be a dagger into the side of his title aspirations. So, if he does elect to stay active and try to pick up another win, which would hopefully force the issue of getting a title shot, he accepts that risk of a potential loss.
My guess is Maia will stick to his original response and wait it out. Doing so actually worked for Woodley, but to be fair, Woodley later admitted he'd never do anything like that again because he had so little control over his own career. Maia is definitely deserving of a title shot in 2017, but we'll see if that's enough to get him one.
