Gunnar Nelson Will Face Demian Maia at UFC 194

Demian Maia's grappling credentials are extremely extensive. He won the Olympics of submission wrestling, the ADCC, and had a successful run in Brazilian jiu jitsu competitions in the early 2000s. Like Jacare, he's considered to be one of the top UFC fighters who, independent of his performances in MMA, holds the highest level of jiu jitsu skills.

Maia is coming off of three big wins. Nelson won his last outing against a game Brandon Thatch after losing for the first time in the UFC when he came up short on a split decision against Rick Story.

It could be argued that Nelson is a more successful submission artist in the Octagon, but it will be a great feat if he's able to get past the defenses and instinct of Maia. Nelson is acting like he's happy to engage Maia on the ground, but expect him to play a game more similar to Conor—staying outside of range and striking.

It's a great matchup, and fans will get to see if Nelson really is the submission genius he seems to be. UFC 194 is shaping up to be amazing, and the rest of the card is stacked. Here's what is on the agenda so far:

Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor
Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold
Ronaldo Souza vs. Yoel Romero
Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens
Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz
Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson
Warlley Alves vs. Colby Covington
Court McGee vs. Marcio Alexandre Jr.
John Makdessi vs. Yancy Medeiros
Leonardo Santos vs. Kevin Lee
Joe Proctor vs. Magomed Mustafaev
Michelle Waterson vs. Tecia Torres