It appears that UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre has found an opponent for his highly anticipated return to the mats.
‘Rush’ announced that he would headline a UFC Fight Pass Invitational event in December, but was unable to offer up any details as far as who his opponent would be. Well, now we know that St-Pierre will square off with one of the most accomplished grapplers in MMA history, Demian Maia. The two-time UFC title challenger revealed himself as St-Pierre’s opponent in a post on social media.
“Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you,” Maia tweeted. “Grappling @GeorgesStPierre will be a huge challenge & great motivation. You GSP are one of the greatest competitors ever, whom I respect a lot. I’m game! Looking forward to competing at @ufc invitational.”
St-Pierre’s Opponent, Demian Maia, is One of MMA’s Most Accomplished Grapplers
While Georges St-Pierre was busy dominating the welterweight division, Demian Maia was making a name for himself at middleweight. Debuting at UFC 77, Maia scored five-straight wins, including a first-round submission against Chael Sonnen, en route to a UFC title fight with the legendary Anderson Silva. Unfortunately, their fight would go on to become one of the worst title fights in promotional history. For five rounds, Maia and Adesanya refused to engage with one another, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of fight fans and UFC President Dana White.
After failing to capture UFC gold at middleweight, Maia moved to welterweight and engaged in some memorable matchups with Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, and Rory MacDonald. Maia bested Jorge Masvidal in a title eliminator at UFC 211, earning himself a shot at then-welterweight king Tyron Woodley. Maia once again came up short, suffering a unanimous decision defeat. He went 3-2 in his last five fights as his contract with the promotion expired in 2021 amid back-to-back losses against Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad.
Outside of the Octagon, Maia is an accomplished BJJ practitioner, scoring titles at ADCC, the Pan American, and the IBJJF World Championships