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Demian Maia Will Face Jake Shields in Own ‘Back Yard’

(Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Well, this is kinda cool. In today’s MMA career symmetry news, MMA Fighting speaks with UFC welterweight contender Demian Maia about returning to the arena where he first made a name for himself in MMA.

“Maia became famous in the MMA world on Oct. 7, 2006, when he dominated three opponents in one night to win the Super Challenge middleweight tournament. The event took place at Jose Correa Gymnasium, the same arena that will host UFN 29,” where Maia will fight Jake Shields, they report.

The Super Challenge middleweight tournament had names like Gustavo Machado, Fabio Nascimento, Alexandre Ferreira, Katel Kubis and Leonardo Nascimento involved. In the end, the underdog prevailed for the title.

“I thought ‘okay, let’s see what happens,'” said Maia. “Paulo Vasconcelos was the promoter and he invited me to fight. I said ‘I don’t know, give me a submission or jiu-jitsu fight, but he couldn’t find an opponent to fight me. Josuel Distak, who was one of my coaches at that time, said I’d win the tournament, so I basically was thrown in there by them.”

(Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“I thought ‘okay, let’s see what happens,’” said Maia. “Paulo Vasconcelos was the promoter and he invited me to fight. I said ‘I don’t know, give me a submission or jiu-jitsu fight, but he couldn’t find an opponent to fight me. Josuel Distak, who was one of my coaches at that time, said I’d win the tournament, so I basically was thrown in there by them.”

“I lived in Barueri for a long time, and now I live in a city close to Barueri, so it’s like my backyard. Three years ago, we never imagined that the UFC would return to Brazil again. I expected to end my career fighting only outside of Brazil, and now I have the chance to fight at home.”

A year after winning that tournament in Brazil, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt was fighting in the UFC as a middleweight. Maia worked all the way to a 2010 title shot against Anderson Silva.

After losing a decision to now champion, Chris Weidman, Maia moved down to the welterweight division, where he is undefeated. Maia is not a star on the level of Vitor Belfort or Silva but it will be interesting to see the reception he gets from his home town crowd against Shields.

If Maia gets past the former welterweight title challenger, it will also be interesting to see if he finds himself on a short list of 170 pound contenders. The winner of Maia/Shields against the winner of Rory MacDonald/Robbie Lawler, anyone?

– Elias Cepeda

Josh Koscheck to Motorboat the Ass of Tyron Woodley at UFC 167

(“I guess, just don’t play truth or dare with Rakishi is the main point of my story, Joe.” Photo via MMAPro.)

It appears as if Josh Koscheck has recovered rather quickly from the undisclosed injury that forced him to pull out of his fight with Demian Maia scheduled for UFC 163. In fact, the former welterweight title challenger and “five star guy” according to Ronnie from the Jersey Shore (unconfirmed) has already been booked to face former Strikeforce welterweight title challenger Tyron Woodley at UFC 167.

It’s probably the best news old Fluffin Top has heard in the better part of a year. After dropping back-to-back fights for the first time in his MMA career, many assumed that Koscheck’s pairing with the win-streaking Maia was the UFC’s way of putting the TUF 1 alum in a do-or-die situation. While that could still be the case for his fight with Woodley, at least Koscheck has been given a far more winnable matchup (or so it would seem). Are we insinuating that Koscheck faked an injury to duck Maia and get an easier opponent? Yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying.

Woodley has also seen some mixed results since transitioning the UFC back in February. After KO’ing Jay Hieron in his promotional debut at UFC 156, “The Chosen One” (whose nickname doesn’t hold a candle to “The Nsane 1“) was stifled by the ultimate stifler, Jake Shields, at UFC 161. It was a decision that some saw as controversial and most saw as “Oh, I was grabbing a ten dollar hoagie during that one.”

Who you like, Taters?

–J. Jones

(“I guess, just don’t play truth or dare with Rakishi is the main point of my story, Joe.” Photo via MMAPro.)

Who you like, Taters?

–J. Jones

Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields Officially Headlining UFN 29 in Brazil

UFC Fight Night no Combate in São Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 9 now officially has its headliner: Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields.
The No. 4 ranked, 170-pound contender Maia (18-4) will take on former Strikeforce champion Shields (28-6-1) in a five-round b…

UFC Fight Night no Combate in São Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 9 now officially has its headliner: Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields.

The No. 4 ranked, 170-pound contender Maia (18-4) will take on former Strikeforce champion Shields (28-6-1) in a five-round bout to cap off a night of fights that will air on FOX Sports 1 in the United States.

Maia, who is undefeated at welterweight, expressed his pride in representing his country on home soil in an article with UFC.com:

I am very happy and proud to be the main event. I’ve always wanted to fight for the UFC in São Paulo, were I was born and raised. I have a special connection with the Jose Correa arena in Barueri, where I had my first major MMA milestone in 2006. My big goal is to get a title shot and become world champion. I know Jake Shields is a great opponent, with wins over names such as Dan Henderson and Carlos Condit, and beating him is sure to get me within title contention.

In the same article, Shields also spoke on the quality of his opponent as well as Brazilian fans:

The Brazilian audience is intimidating and enthusiastic, and it makes for an excellent atmosphere. But once I get in the Octagon, I’ll be focused and ready. Fighting Demian on his home turf will not be an issue. His strengths are obvious: he’s the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial artist in my division. His weakness is his standup. I want to beat him at what he’s best at.

The co-main event of the night will pit two more welterweights contenders against each other, as Erick Silva (15-3) takes on South Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim (17-2-1).

Silva is coming off the Submission of the Night victory in his last outing. Kim has won three-of-four, with the loss coming at the hands of Maia when a freak injury during a scramble forced him to tap out.

Both the main and co-main events promise to be tactical smorgasbords. Maia and Shields are among the best at control grappling in MMA, while Kim has not found an opponent he can’t take down during his UFC stint.

The young Brazilian, Silva, has his own explosive ground game, with two of his three UFC victories coming by way of first-round submission.

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Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields Verbally Agreed for UFC Fight Night on October 9th

(“We needed somebody to emulate Jake’s style during this training camp, Luckily, the Purple Prancer was available.” / Props: @DemianMaia)

Demian Maia was supposed to compete earlier this month at UFC 163, but the injury curse had other plans, and his opponent Josh Koscheck was forced out on short notice. Luckily he’ll have another high-profile fight to make up for it. MMAFighting reports that Maia has verbally agreed to fight Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night 29, which goes down October 9th, possibly at the Gymnasium Multisport José Corrêa in Barueri, São Paulo. The event will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1.

Between his previous wins over Rick Story and Jon Fitch, and his bookings against Koscheck and Shields, Maia is becoming a villain to West Coast-based American wrestlers during his current run at welterweight — though he’ll certainly be treated like a hero in his return to Brazil. Shields is coming off a forgettable split-decision victory against Tyron Woodley at UFC 161 in June, which followed his no-contest against Ed Herman due to a failed drug test. It’s been a long time since Shields has had a truly impressive victory (you might have to go all the way back to April 2010), and the odds won’t be in his favor this fall.

A main event for the card hasn’t been announced yet, but the UFC’s October 9th lineup will also feature Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim and Jeremy Stephens vs. Rony Jason.

(“We needed somebody to emulate Jake’s style during this training camp, Luckily, the Purple Prancer was available.” / Props: @DemianMaia)

A main event for the card hasn’t been announced yet, but the UFC’s October 9th lineup will also feature Erick Silva vs. Dong Hyun Kim and Jeremy Stephens vs. Rony Jason.

Jake Shields vs. Demian Maia Set for UFC Fight Night in October

Arguably, the welterweight division’s most accomplished grapplers, Jake Shields and Demian Maia are now confirmed to face each other at a UFC Fight Night event on Fox Sports 1 in October.
Talk of a match between the two has been circulating …

Arguably, the welterweight division’s most accomplished grapplers, Jake Shields and Demian Maia are now confirmed to face each other at a UFC Fight Night event on Fox Sports 1 in October.

Talk of a match between the two has been circulating for some time now, and last month, it was reported that the two had verbally agreed to a bout. However, no date was set—until now—according to Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.

The event has no city or venue yet but was confirmed by Shields’ trainer, Cesar Gracie.

“From my understanding, that’s Jake’s next fight,” he told MMA Fighting.

Both Maia and Shields are former middleweights who have been flitting between weight divisions with limited success.

Maia dropped down to the 170-pound division after a loss to future champion Chris Weidman in 2012 and has since gone on a tear, walking through three opponents at welterweight including Rick Story and Jon Fitch.

Shields, meanwhilw, perhaps due to a lack of exercise equipment, has yet to recapture the form that saw him win the Strikeforce 185-pound belt in the UFC. After a loss in a title fight to Georges St-Pierre and an embarrassing 53-second KO at the hands of Jake Ellenberger, he fought once more at welterweight before returning to middleweight.

However, after defeating Ed Herman in a languid three-round decision, the bout was overturned into a no-contest, and Shields has since returned to welterweight.

He beat Tyron Woodley, just barely, in his last outing and will be hoping a win against the highly touted Maia will get him back in the reckoning.

Khurram Aziz is a Featured Columnist on Bleacher Report. Check out my site: ahappydeal.com

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