Demian Maia claimed a victory in his welterweight debut against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 148, though the manner of the finish was a little peculiar.
Maia showed his hand straight away in this fight by pressing forward and immediately looking for a takedown. Up against the cage he was able to take Kim’s back and after a struggle he was able to get a full bodylock and trip him to the mat.
For a brief moment Maia began to throw down strikes on the mat, but then he just stood up with his hands up in celebration, and while it took a moment to register it turned out that the fight had come to an end with just 0.47mins on the clock.
In the aftermath Kim was wincing in pain while clutching his ribs, and upon watching the replay it appears that the tight bodylock Maia had when he took him to the floor, followed by an awkward landing may have resulted in a broken rib, giving the Brazilian a TKO win.
Maia was delighted to get the victory and he certainly looked in good shape coming in at 170lbs, but we’ll still need to reserve judgement on whether the move down will be a success or not for him until he has more cage-time.
Having said that, the fact that he was willing to go for a takedown straightaway is a positive sign as Maia’s always been at his best when he’s using his world-class jiu-jitsu skills.
As for Kim, this just appears to have been an unlucky night for him and no doubt he’ll bounce back strongly.
