Everybody’s talking Toney, I’m thinking Maia

While James “Lights Out” Toney and Randy Couture grab all the headlines heading into tonight’s UFC 118 in Boston, there’s a bout a little further down on the card that has me most curious. Not Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard despite the fact that it’s a lightweight contender bout with Fight of the Night potential. Likewise Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis, neither of whom I can stand (Davis because of some appalling comments he made regarding Dan Hardy and Diaz because he’s a Diaz and bat-shit crazy).

Nope, I’m looking forward to Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda. I love Maia, love his jiu-jitsu, and really want to see how he rebounds after his loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva, where Silva acted like an ass and Maia gave a gutsy performance that saw him stand and bang as much as Silva would let him.

As for Miranda, he’s 1-1 in the UFC and coming off a TKO win over David Loiseau, which really isn’t much of an accomplishment at this point in Loiseau’s career. A Maia win doesn’t put him back in title contention, not by a long shot, but it assures his place among the top three or four contenders, which means bigger tougher fights ahead, and that’s good to see.