Demian Maia stated his case for a UFC welterweight title shot last night at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas after scoring a split decision win over one of his toughest challenges to date, Jorge Masvidal.
Going into the Ufc 211 pay-per-view contest, Maia sat at the number three spot in the UFC welterweight rankings while his opponent, Masvidal was ranked number five.
In the first round of the three-round contest, Maia maintained dominant control of Masvidal's back, but somehow two of the three judges scored the round in favor of 'Gamebred' Masvidal.
The second round is where Masvidal continued his relentless assault from the first round and you could see Maia start to fade, however, the Brazilian is able to take his opponent down, land a few shots, and continue to work for submissions.
In the third and final round, Maia applies body lock while cinching up a rear-naked choke and Masvidal is forced to switch to defense mode. The contest is ruled in favor of Maia, making it seven straight wins for arguably the best Jiu-Jitsu practitioner to ever compete in the UFC octagon.
After the fight was over Maia walked over to the corner of UFC President Dana White and made his case for a crack at the title. Commentator Joe Rogan asked Maia what was translated between the two and Maia stated that White said, "You got it."
Maia will face current UFC welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley.
A date and venue for that fight have not yet been announced but it is expected to take place in either September or October as the majority of the summer headliners have already been announced.
Company Man
With the loss, Masvidal's professional record now sits at 32-12, while Maia increases to 25-6. Maia entered the UFC a decade ago with a win over Ryan Jensen at UFC 77.
The Masvidal fight marked Maia's 25th fight with the UFC.
Maia moved down from middleweight after a loss to Chris Weidman at UFC on FOX 2 in 2012. He once challenged Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 112 in April 2010.
On Record Path
It is also worth noting that Maia has nine submission victories to his credit inside the UFC octagon.
The only man ahead of him is UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie who earned 10 submission wins between UFC 1 and UFC 4. Maia holds wins in some of the most prestigious Jiu-Jitsu competitions in the world to include the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships, Pan American Championships, and the CBJJ World Championships.
