It was rumored Demian Maia would battle Jorge Masvidal at April 22’s UFC Fight Night 108, but instead the pivotal 170-pound contest will happen on a suddenly packed pay-per-view (PPV) instead.
News broke from MMA Junkie this afternoon (February 28, 2017) that surging No. 3-ranked Maia will face longtime veteran and No. 6-ranked Masvidal on the main card of May 11’s UFC 211 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The elite match-up will join two title bouts when heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic looks for his second title defense against former champion Junior dos Santos in a rematch of their grueling 2014 brawl, and dominant women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk looks for her fifth in just over two years against dangerous contender Jessica Andrade.
Rounding out the card, former heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum will face Ben Rothwell in a top-level heavyweight bout which will also provide some backup should a main event participant be injured.
On a peerless five-fight win streak, Maia has the look of a championship threat and had previously said he’d wait for the title shot he believed he earned by submitting former interim champion Carlos Condit in the first round of his last fight. However, with a title rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson set for this weekend’s UFC 209 and Georges St-Pierre returning to the 170-pound fray later this year, Maia knows everything is light years away from guaranteed in the crowded UFC 170-pound landscape.
All he can do to further his case is continue dominating the top-ranked opponents they put in front of him.
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