UFC 136 Results: Demian Maia Needs to Evolve to Become a Contender

While Demian Maia was very dominant in victory against Jorge Santiago at UFC 136, he showed once again that he needs to evolve his game if he ever wants to become an middleweight contender.

There are two different ways of looking at Maia's fight against Santiago.

On one side of the coin, Maia put on a Brazilian jiu-jitsu clinic for 15 minutes against Santiago. The fight did have some moments on the feet, but the fight was all about Maia working his top game. He was able to get the fight to the ground at will, but never came close to finishing Santiago.

On the other side of the coin, Maia's fight was very boring. Despite his ground prowess, Maia seemed content to just ride the 15-minute wave to victory without putting himself in harm's way.

The biggest hole in Maia's game has always been his stand-up. Maia's chin is always there to be hit and his boxing skills look remedial at best.

If Maia doesn't improve his stand-up skills and provide more entertaining fights, Maia may not find himself against a contender—or a pay-per-view main card—for a long time.

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