While one pound might not seem like a lot when it comes to the UFC fighter weigh-ins, it can often be a window into a fighter’s strategy when he comes out a bit over or under the agreed-upon weight total.

In the case of Demian Maia, who came in one pound under the middleweight limit of 185 for his fight against Anderson Silva, it may be a hint that Maia wants to be as quick and light as possible to combat the noted speed advantage that the champion Silva possesses.

The UFC 112 weigh-ins were uneventful for Silva, who weighed in at the standard 185-pound amount for his battle against the betting underdog Maia.

Maia has actually seen the betting money move towards Silva going into his Saturday tilt with the middleweight champion despite Silva already holding a big advantage as a huge favorite.

For online betting Maia is now at +500 odds as the underdog which is one of the biggest gaps among title fight participants compared with Silva’s -800 odds that we’ve seen in a long, long time.

Maia will hope to get the fight against Silva to the ground, where he can work towards notching a possible submission win against his Brazilian countryman.

Silva will obviously do everything in his power to not let that happen, however, as he prefers to stand up and counter-attack.

Maia is one of the most dangerous Brazilian jiu-jitsu players in the entire world of MMA and in BJJ period, but Silva is a black belt in his own right who trains with the Nogueira brothers, two of the best MMA grapplers of all-time and black belts as well.

Maia might have to rely on his wrestling to win this fight, and while he doesn’t use a lot of traditional freestyle wrestling moves, he has shown a penchant for getting takedowns when UFC fans least expect it.

Perhaps Maia wanted to come in to UFC 112 weighing a little less to give him more agility and explosion on his takedowns since getting the fight to the ground is so critical in this fight.

Silva has been up and down on his weight as well since entering the UFC. He had to get as big as possible against Forrest Griffin their light heavyweight matchup last year because Griffin is one of the strongest fighters in the division.

He also had to make a quick leap when he fought James Irvin and went up for his first light heavyweight fight.

But Silva walks around at about 210-220 pounds and he has shown that making weight is not much of a problem for him. He fights well at both weight classes because he is such a good natural athlete and that’s part of the reason why many consider him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

Maia was a bit on the light side at the UFC 112 weigh-ins but it shouldn’t make much of a difference in the long run since both guys are comfortable at the middleweight level.