I don't agree. For starters, the more traditional UI of Maya is easier to grasp than Blender's. That's quite a difference that makes the learning process much easier for Maya.
Yup, both max and maya have such a 'traditional' (for lack of a better term) kind of UI - it's (for the most part) intuitive, whereas blender's just appears to be spread out all around the sides of the screen and it just feels like a mess. Even the basic aspect of interacting with the viewports is weird, why is there a crosshair, why can't I drag things around; what the hell is this weird lasso thing?
Blender is definitely odd and quirky compared to Maya or Max. All of them have a steep learning curve, but Blender is weird on top of being complicated.