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Welterweights Demian Maia and Gilbert Burns are reportedly headed to Brasilia in March.
Brazil’s capital might get an intriguing grappling battle in its co-main event for the upcoming UFC visit in March. Per Combate’s Raphael Marinho, a bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelts Demian Maia and Gilbert Burns is in the works for UFC Brasilia.
Ultimate negocia luta entre @demianmaia e @GilbertDurinho para UFC Brasília. Tendência é que seja o co-main do dia 14 de março. | combate | Globoesporte https://t.co/BTnhwWl8BZ
— Raphael Marinho (@raphamarinho) January 4, 2020
After a rather fruitful 2019, Demian Maia (28-9) finds himself on a three-fight winning streak, with victories over Lyman Good, Anthony Rocco Martin and most recently, back in October, Ben Askren. Two of those wins came by way of submssion. The 42-year-old’s last loss happened in May 2018, when he dropped a unanimous decision to now welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Undefeated after moving back up to the welterweight division, Gilbert Burns (17-3) will look for his third straight win in the division, but the fifth one in his current streak. In his last two outings, ‘Durinho’ bested both Alexey Kunchenko and Gunnar Nelson via unanimous decision. The 33-year-old already held lightweight wins over Mike Davis and Olivier Aubin-Mercier before the shift. The Brazilian’s last defeat came in July 2018, when he was knocked out by Dan Hooker.
Now, Demian Maia is expected to take on Gilbert Burns at UFC Fight 170’s co-main event, in Brasilia, Brazil. So far, the promotion has not announced an official headliner for the card.