Demian Maia stares Jorge Masvidal down at UFC 211. UFC.
UFC welterweight Demian Maia continues to fight for his shot at the belt. His latest fight, against Carlos Condit, was his sixth consecutive win, which sounds like it would qualify him, but the UFC seems to disagree.
As Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson had a rematch on the 4th, the BJJ teacher has a fight scheduled against Jorge Masvidal for May 13th at UFC 211. Even though that’s not ideal, Maia has again shown his professionalism by playing along.
“I honestly believe I’ve done enough to earn a title fight,” he said on social media, “but not everything in life is always how we’d like, and now this doesn’t matter anymore. All of my focus is on UFC 211.”
Maia also explained why he changed his mind on the title shot. Previously, the Brazilian had been incisive on his preference for waiting for a welterweight champion to emerge, to only then challenge him. But the game has changed, and Maia had to comply with a request from the organization.
“I’ve been getting many questions from the public and press trying to understand why I accepted such a dangerous fight, just days before the welterweight title bout. It’s no secret to anyone that I was waiting for the title bout, and it may seem weird because I changed my mind so close to probably finally having my chance confirmed. It’s very simple; I was asked to do a fight, and I was told that I had to stay active to get my shot.”
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