Demian Maia Refuses To Sell Himself For Welterweight Title Shot
It’s been hard to deny Demian Maia a shot at the UFC welterweight title with his recent string of performances, but the UFC has had no such issue doing just that as of late.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist is currently on a seven fight win streak over names such as Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson, Matt Brown, Carlos Condit, and Jorge Masvidal. Last night (Sat. May 13, 2017) Maia earned his seventh straight victory with a split decision win over Masvidal at the UFC 211 pay-per-view (PPV) from Dallas.
During the post-fight press conference, Maia stated that he refuses to begin trash talking in order to receive a title shot that he has arguably earned a long time ago. Maia said he has been promised the 170-pound title on multiple occasions, but has been continuously duped (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“A lot of people came up to me and said you need to trash talk,” Maia said. “That’s not me.”
“What I learned lately in my life is that, don’t get too stressed with things that I don’t have control,” Maia said. “Once I won against Gunnar Nelson, they invited me to watch [Robbie] Lawler and [Carlos] Condit in that time. I was supposed to be the next, they were recording me, I was in the front row, but then things change.
“Then I came and won against Matt Brown and they say okay now we’re gonna fight, and then, no, let’s fight Condit. And then I won against Condit, former interim champion, in a very good way and said, ‘okay, now we’re going to fight,’ and no, and finally I got this one. I don’t know, you know? I just relax and I not put this pressure on me anymore.”
If Maia does finally get the nod to challenge current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley for the title, he won’t turn into somebody he’s not just to try and earn more PPV points:
“That’s my personality,” Maia said. “I’m not going to change that. I’m not going to sell myself just because I want to be a champion, just because I want to make more money, you know? I don’t sell myself. I am what I am. I’m a role model for a lot of people, for my kids. I don’t want to just change because I want to make more money. I’m going to do something, more people are going to like me, I know I have a lot of fans, and it’s a big mistake try to please everybody.”
Maia’s previous wins inside the Octagon have come rather easily for him, having choked out Matt Brown and former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit consecutively before last night. His fight against Masvidal, however, was much more difficult and he gives “Gamebred” all the credit he deserves for his effort:
“I’ve won seven in a row and I think that was probably the toughest one,” Maia said, “because, the last fights I was controlling all the time, even the fights I didn’t submit, but this one was tougher. You know he really came prepared for my jiu-jitsu and he was defending well the submissions, but I was able to get my positions and I was trying to submit him all the time.”
