Dana White promised Damien a championship bout, but the rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson at UFC 209 put Maia even further away from title contention. Masvidal and Maia have found their place in the 170 lb. weight class and recently earned their biggest career victories after moving from different divisions. Maia is currently rated No. 5 and Masvidal is No. 9 in the MMA welterweight rankings. They will meet at UFC 211, MMA Junkie confirmed. The headliners of the night will be heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic versus Junior dos Santos and strawweight titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk against Brazilian striker Jessica Andrade.
The stacked card will take place May 13, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
There’s nothing Maia hasn't seen inside the octagon before
Damien has been waiting for over ten years to hold the title belt. The 39-year-old Brazilian hasn’t fought since August 2016, when he submitted Carlos Condit. Before then, he went up against experienced fighters Neil Magny and Matt Brown and got Performance of the Night bonuses. Damien's last loss was back in February 2014 facing Rory MacDonald by unanimous decision. Grappling is Maia's bread and butter, and he will definitely try and take this fight to the floor. He always finds some way to get his opposition down with leg trips or creative takedowns - Damien's groundwork is the best in the game.
We won't argue with you on that, @DemianMaia 👀 #UFC211 pic.twitter.com/6qNShdWRno
— UFC (@ufc) April 26, 2017
Masvidal’s takedown defense is a big benefit in this scrap
Jorge Masvidal is finally getting some recognition in the MMA world, and UFC 211 is going to be the biggest fight in his career. In the welterweight division, he's on a three-fight winning streak.
On his last two confrontations Masvidal knocked out big names Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Jake Ellenberger; but at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, Ellenberger got his toe stuck in between the fence and Jorge missed out on the $50,000 knockout bonus - He was very irritated about not getting the money. Before then, The 32-year-old American Top Team member suffered three split-decision losses and had been removed from more than one UFC fight card entirely.
Now, he's sharpen his skills, put some change in his pocket and is willing to brawl with his teammate and current champion Tyron Woodley to get big-money fights.
The champ @TWooodley weighs in on #UFC211's @demianmaia vs. @GamebredFighter scrap. https://t.co/OPOQnYCAxC
— BJ Penn (@bjpenndotcom) April 15, 2017
Damien Maia is expecting to get a title shot after this fight against Jorge Masvidal, but this match is going to be extremely dangerous for him. His opponent has advanced boxing skills, and a loss can destroy his chance at the championship belt, but he's 100% focused.