UFC Fight Night 62: Maia vs. LaFlare Fight Card, TV and Info

By Brian Mazique

On Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 62 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the undefeated Ryan LaFlare will attempt to run his record to 12-0 in a true test of his skills and poise. LaFlare faces popular Brazilian Demian Maia behind enemy lines.

In the co-feature, veteran Josh Koscheck will climb back into the Octagon after losing by submission less than a month ago to Jake Ellenberger. Koscheck will take on Erick Silva in what could be the popular veteran's last stand.

Here's the viewing information and predictions for the entire card. Just below the table is a breakdown of LaFlare vs. Maia and the other top fights on the card.

LaFlare isn't just taking on one of mixed martial arts' most gifted Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists. He's doing it in Brazil where he'll have almost everyone in attendance rooting against him.

LaFlare knows what to expect. He defeated Brazilian Santiago Ponzinibbio there in Nov. 2013. Per the interview from the UFC's YouTube channel, he embraces the energy—even though it's of the negative variety.

Without question, Maia will be more motivated to bring home a win in front of his home crowd. He'll also be charged to perform well after a 2014 bone infection in his right clavicle had him concerned about continuing his career and even questioning his quality of life moving forward.

In an interview with Fox Sports' Damon Martin, Maia said: "When you do the things you need to do to recover and you don't get better, it starts getting scary, and you start to ask yourself if you're even going to be able to fight again. At one point, I wasn't even thinking about my fight career, I was thinking about my life."

Maia is all healed up and ready to rejoin the championship chase in the welterweight division. The 37-year-old is ranked No. 7, and he hopes to defend his Top 10 standing against the No. 14-ranked LaFlare.

At 31, LaFlare is at an age where he should be in his physical prime, but it's time for him to make serious moves if he hopes to face off against the elite fighters in the weight class soon. Maia has had his time in the Octagon with elite fighters, though most of it took place when he was still competing at 185 pounds.

He wants one more run at UFC gold, but he needs to stop LaFlare's ascension up the ranks to facilitate that. It would really make a statement if LaFlare could stop Maia. LaFlare hasn't stopped an opponent in any of his four fights in the UFC, and Maia has only been finished once in his MMA career.

Can LaFlare stick it to the Brazilian crowd, or will he find himself in a sticky situation with Maia on the ground?

Maia's grappling prowess is well-documented, as is LaFlare's wrestling skills. While Maia might have an edge in submissions, LaFlare should be able to hold his own from a positioning and balance standpoint as it pertains to grappling. That brings us to the stand-up portion of the matchup.

Between the two southpaws, LaFlare is the more agile and smoother striker. That shines through when you look at his significant-strikes-landed-per-minute rate. He's tagging opponents an average of 4.07 times every 60 seconds compared to just 1.84 for Maia.

This speaks to LaFlare's work rate and stamina. Ultimately, he'll ride his workman-like striking and ability to hold his own on the ground to a unanimous-decision victory.

Most people don't like to advise guys to retire—OK, maybe most do. In the case of Koscheck, he really should listen to the widespread advice. On Saturday, he'll take on Erick Silva just 21 days after he was grossly submitted (warning: graphic image) by Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184.

In an interview with UFC.com's Duane Finley, Koscheck explains his decision to step in for the injured Ben Saunders:

Dana White called me a few days after my last fight to see what’s up and check on how I was feeling. I told him I was feeling awesome and there are bigger things in life than winning and losing fights, but I’m a competitor and I take it to heart. I told him I made one mistake in that fight and it cost me. I told Dana I was in shape and ready to go. If he got any calls about anyone dropping out at 170 please let me know because I was ready. I would fight on a one day notice. I don’t care.

Word on the Street is just one of many predicting Koscheck's retirement after what would be his fifth-straight loss:

Silva is a bit of an enigma in his own right. He's as physically talented as anyone at 170 pounds, but he's struggled to finish fights when he's had the opportunity. Silva had hurt Matt Brown with body kicks when he faced him in May 2014, but he gassed out, and The Immortal outlasted him.

Silva won't have to worry about that against Koscheck. It's disturbing that Kos is being allowed to fight just three weeks after he nearly had his head yanked off by Ellenberger. That's a bit of hyperbole, but when you consider the 37-year-old has been stopped three times in a row, you can't overstate the concern for his well-being.

Even with Silva's unpredictable track record, he should stop Koscheck via TKO and bring about one of the most overdue retirements in recent memory.

Santos vs. Martin

At 25 years old, Tony Martin has a promising future in MMA, but his game still needs some diversity. At this point in his career, he's primarily a wrestler and submissions fighter. He has the look of a guy who could develop decently on his feet, but we haven't seen it as of yet.

Against Leonardo Santos, Martin will be facing a 35-year-old Brazilian veteran with excellent grappling skills. Martin hasn't proved himself capable of doing serious damage in stand-up exchanges; therefore, he still needs to take fights to the ground. 

That will prove to be difficult, as Santos' takedown defense is 83 percent. If Martin can't get the fight on his level, he may be unable to win. Furthermore, if he does take Santos down, there's no guarantee he gets the better of things on the mat.

Santos was a grappling demon in his last win over Efrain Escudero, and he'll be too much for Martin as well.

LaFlare isn't the only undefeated fighter set to perform on Saturday. As a matter of fact, five fighters on the card have an unblemished record: LaFlare, Gilbert Burns, Cain Carrizosa, Bentley Syler and Fredy Serrano.

Besides LaFlare, Burns is probably the most promising of the bunch. The 28-year-old Brazilian is 2-0 in the UFC, and he's shown the ability to win in a variety of ways. He has three wins by KO and five by submission in his career, per Sherdog. He'll face fellow Brazilian Alex "Cowboy" Oliveira. 

Silva leads all fighters on the card in Fight Night bonuses. He's secured six in his UFC career and three straight. Most recently, he took home a Performance of the Night bonus for his submission victory over Mike Rhodes at UFC Fight Night in Dec. 2014.

There's a good chance he could add to that total on Saturday against Koscheck.

Three fighters are making their UFC debuts on the card. The aforementioned Syler and Serrano, as well as the dangerous "Cowboy" Oliveira. Someone may want to tell him that his nickname is already taken in the UFC—and in his weight class—but the lightweight has put together a distinguished career thus far.

He's 10-1-1 with eight knockouts. He'll face a tough and equally dangerous opponent in Burns. Oliveira's indoctrination to the UFC might be a rough one.

Article Source : http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2403200-ufc-fight-night-62-maia-vs-laflare-fight-card-tv-info-predictions-and-more