Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson are established MMA icons, and both discussed their thoughts on how the battle for top contendership in their weight class between Marquardt and Maia might unfold. Courtesy of Sherdog, Wand is interviewed on several topics in the ring after his fighter Jorge Lopez' recent victory, and below are his comments on the match-up:

“I can tell Demian is in a very good shape, pretty well prepared for anything. It wouldn’t be a surprise to me if he submits his opponent fast. Demian is a questions mark. He is really like a scientist of MMA. Sometimes, he comes up with a new position, and it always works in practice.  He is the man on the ground, and I’m happy that he is finally being recognized as the most important jiu-jitsu representative in MMA now. And you see how the world turns, the number one representative of jiu-jitsu training on my team.”

Hendo shared an opposing opinion when questioned about how he felt the fight would unfold at the UFC 102 "Q&A Session":

“I would have to go with Marquardt. He's good enough not to get submitted – although Demian is better than anybody with submissions.  I just think Demian is a little bit too green on his feet and Marquardt's too comfortable everywhere. I would give the edge to Marquardt even though I think it's going to be a back and forth technical fight.  It would be like the fight I had three fights ago against Rousimar Palhares. He's really, really good on the ground. I'm comfortable there and I can really take advantage of his lack of striking in that fight.”

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