UFC Fight Night 62: Maia vs. LaFlare Discussion Thread

The fighters are weighed in and we're set to go for Saturday night. 

Prelims kick off on UFC Fight Pass at 7pm ET, followed by televised prelims on FS2 at 8pm and the FS1 Main Card at 10pm. 

Enjoy!

Twister. That's ignorant to say. Fans of grappling love watching Maia fight. Whether it be for 15 or 25 minutes.

uh... no... it would've been 47-46 Maia

I'll take it...

If Rumble beats Jones, does he get to rematch Koscheck? Dude has earned it, imho.

* Edited at 03.22.2015, 1:20 AM ET *

Maia looked like a fish in the last round, too bad, otherwise I enjoyed his ground game a lot.

I'm satisfied with how my picks turned out.  Especially when considering how bizarre the last Brazil card went.

Not ignorant. Truth. I can appreciate Maia's guard game....but only for so long. 

@TacoMike ur Canadian, right? Ever see Niagra falls? Or even something like the grand canyon? They are both beautiful....but after about 25 minutes I think "why the **** am i still looking at this?". 

There was how many sub attempts? The arm triangle and what else? Guard passing. Thats all the fight was. If your jimmies get off specifically to guard passing go watch jiu jitsu. Me personally? Yes I would've like to have seen a few more sub attempts at the very least. Is that too much to ask? Or am I ignorant...

Did Kos say he would retire? I fell asleep watching the event.

@Twister44 Anyone can dislike any fight. I particularly love watching Maia fight, but he isn't there for us to like his style. He is there to win. 

* Edited at 03.22.2015, 2:21 AM ET *

I missed who got the post fight bonuses.

* Edited at 03.22.2015, 2:26 AM ET *

@Twister, once, very long ago, in a galaxy far far away, I wrestled.  So, I guess what I am saying is that as long as they don't lay and pray, I love to watch ground game.  Any kind, whether they're wrestling, BJJ, whatev.  That doesn't mean I don't love to watch Condit and Dillashaw strike from all different directions or Faber try to choke every chicken he sees.  Expand your horizons.  Also, I have seen both Niagara Falls and The Grand Canyon.  What I'm trying to say is that I am afraid of heights and didn't see much of either.

UFC ‏@ufc  40m40 minutes ago

#UFCRio Performance of the Night Bonuses: @kevinsouzamma @GilbertDurinho @Pepey10 @FredySerrano125 50k each

It's odd how many fight cards lately have just been getting the four Performance bonuses. In a way it's good because the cards have been so full of finishes, but it would still be nice to see some awesome fights on the cards as well.

I have always had an issue with them not giving out a fight of the night bonus.When guys are at the pressers they are talking **** about getting fotn,weigh ins same thing,they step into the cage same thing and you see it all the tiime guys start saying some **** to eachother and then just start letting go.It's something not only the fighters are using as motivation to put on an exciting fight but has become the norm for fans.I kind of like watching the fights and trying to figure out who's going to get fight of the night.It's become a real staple in the ufc.I don't mind if there is no fotn if there isn't any great fights but there were,Mafra/Carrizosa or Burns/Cowboy for example.

We often see bonus' go to the better known guys too.One example that killed me was Neil Seery,he finally makes it to the big show,quits his job and for the first time isn't working full time during his fight career in order to support his 8 million kids.Put's on a great fight with Brad Pickett and then Gustafsson & Manuwa get not only fotn but an extra bonus.Gus layed on him in round 1 and then got the quick ko in the 2nd how is that fotn..UFC's selection of bonus' is terrible they really have sucked at it consistently  to the point where i'd just rather they keep it to themselves lol.I have always thought they should have a panel of media people who vote on the awards instead of just Dana White or whoever it is that sucks at picking them so bad.

A media vote like you said would be better than however it is done now, be it Dana White or whoever.  But I've seen it suggested before elsewhere to do a fan vote but I have zero doubt it'd be even worse than it is now as a very high percentage of the fans voting on every card likely would have only seen at most the second half of the card so it'd be even more tilted towards only name fighters.  I wouldn't doubt if at least over 1/3 of the votes on every event if fans voted would be by fans who hadn't seen a single fight on the card at all and just voted for the most recognizable name while they were online on ufc.com after an event.  It's too bad, because if it wasn't such an immeasurably worse idea than whoever chooses the way it's done now, it would otherwise be a good way to have some real fan interaction and the UFC providing the fans a sense of making a difference in each UFC event.

UFC Fight Night Rio Post-Fight Press Conference, for anybody who is interested.

I'm astounded that Burns/Oliveira didn't get FOTN. It deserved FOTN more than any of the POTNs deserved awards.

@kpro They actually tried fan voting for one event (only to determine FOTN). It was UFC 124 and the fans chose GSP/Koscheck as FOTN. Apparently, Uncle Dana was unhappy with this decision.

@Zarog Out of curiosity over what should've won FOTN at UFC 124 expecting obviously multiple better candidates for FOTN than a GSP 50-45x3 mauling of Koscheck but was surprised.  Aside from that fight there were 4 first round stoppages and then 6 other decisions.  Of those 6, only two didn't have one fighter winning every single round by at least 10-9.  Dan Miller vs. Joe Doerksen which the fans booed throughout due to a slow pace, lack of action, and not much to score.  Leaving just one other option where both fighters won at least a round, being Bongfeldt vs. Natal where Natal was up 20-18 after two on all 3 cards and then came out with absolutely no energy in the third round and Bongfeldt tired as well but not to Rafi bomb's level, got a 10-8 on two cards having the only offense to speak of both on the feet landing at will and on the mat, mounting Natal and landing tired hammerfists to make it a Majority Draw.  I guess I was just surprised that there really weren't many options for a fight to take FOTN that night that had anything resembling both a little back and forth as well as fan excitement.  I'm still glad they didn't stick with fan voting but at least on that night, at least it was a night of one-sided fights and the fans didn't pick GSP/Kos over something like a bantamweight prelim FOTY contender that was 100% action packed and evenly matched for the entire 15 minutes.  I at least feel better about the fan vote, at least that night, after seeing that no two guys got the shaft hardcore by the fans.  Alves/Howard and Makdessi/Audinwood were the only two fights that even had some back and forth striking exchanges in the pocket to end a round but both were 30-27 or 30-26 for Alves or Makdessi on every card.  Not the best event to watch for those who like any round in any fight among 22 fighters on the card to at least have something resembling a little back and forth.  Just surprised me that the event really had no stand-out fight compared to a fight that was a clean sweep mauling on all the cards, which normally shouldn't be that hard to find among 10 other fights, haha.

Makdessi over Audinwood (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Almeida over TJ Grant (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Pierson over Riddle (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bongfeldt vs. Natal DRAW (29-28 Natal, 28-28, 28-28)
Bocek over Hazelett (1SUB at 2:33)
Dan Miller over Doerksen SPLIT (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) Fans booed quite a bit in this fight.
Alves over John Howard (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Danzig over Stevenson (1KO at 1:54)
Jim Miller over Charles Oliveira (1SUB at 1:59)
Struve over McCorkle (1TKO at 3:55)
GSP over Koscheck (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

* Edited at 03.22.2015, 1:13 PM ET *