Demian Maia

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Demian Maia

Statistics
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg/13.2 st)
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	November 6, 1977 (1977-11-06) (age 30)
Fighting out of	Sao Paulo, Brazil
Town of birth	Sao Paulo, Brazil
Team/Association	Team Brasa
Fighting style	Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	7
By knockout	1
By submission	5
Losses	0
Draws	0

Demian Maia (born in Sao Paulo, Brazil) is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization.

1 Bio
2 Early MMA Career
3 UFC
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Awards
6 Videos
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Bio

Considered by many to be one of the foremost and best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the world, Maia began his MMA fighting career in December 2005. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he is a grappler by background under the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team Brasa. In his relatively brief time as a mixed martial artist most of his wins have come from submissions. He won the 77kg - 87kg weight division at the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, defeating Flavio Almeida by armbar in the Finals. Maia also defeated the likes of Yushin Okami, Rafael Lovato, and Tarsis Humphres that day in the tournament. Maia, who says UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie inspired him to begin an MMA career, is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion. While Royce Gracie inspired him to begin his MMA career, it is actually Rickson Gracie that Maia looks up to the most and Maia lists Rickson as his hero. Maia won the 2007 Super Challenge under 83 kg belt by Guillotine Choke over Fabio Negao in the very first round. He defeated Vitelmo Kubis Bandeira by Rear Naked Choke in the QuarterFinal fight. In the SemiFinal fight, he defeated Gustavo Machado by a judges decision after two rounds. In the Mundials, Maia has defeated the likes of Ronaldo de Souza, Gabriel Gonzaga, and others.

As a child, Maia not only trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but he also trained in Judo. When he became a teenager, he expanded his horizons and took up the arts of Kung Fu and Karate. Demian Maia finished college and graduated with a degree in Journalism. He is a Second Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

[edit] Early MMA Career

On December 3rd of 2005, Maia made his Mixed Martial Arts debut against Lukas Chlewicki at The Cage - Volume 4 in Helsinki, Finland. In just 4:22, Maia submitted Chlewicki by Armbar to win his MMA debut.

After nearly a year off from fighting at the top level, Maia returned on October 7th of 2006 to compete at Super Challenge 1. He fought and defeated Vitelmo Kubis Bandeira by Rear Naked Choke in the QuarterFinal fight before moving on to defeat Gustavo Machado by a judges decision after two rounds in the SemiFinal match. In the Final fight of the evening, he defeated Fabio Negao by Guillotine Choke in the first round. In just one night, Maia defeated three game opponents with three different styles and did it with relative ease. He was crowned the 2007 Super Challenge under-83kgs Champion for doing so.

On May 19th of 2007, Maia competed in GFC - Evolution against Ryan Stout. The fight began relatively normal with the fighters exchanging glove taps in the center of the ring as a sign of respect. It was followed up with a couple of nice leg kicks by Maia to get the action started. This led to them clashing shins and then Maia shooting in for the takedown and he secured it very easily. Maia easily passed Stout's guard as he started to work from the top, then Maia moved to side control, and then was able to secure the full mount. Maia started to rain shots down from the top and Stout tried to squirm out from the bottom. Maia attempted to roll to the back but Stout was able to scramble and get into top position. However, that would be short lived as Maia quickly reversed him and regained top position and actually landed in mount. For some reason, Stout began to immediately tap out and it later was learned that he popped his shoulder out of the socket when Maia swept him to regain top position. A tough ending to the fight, but another reason as to why Maia is so dangerous on the ground.

[edit] UFC

On August 7th of 2007, it was announced that the UFC had signed Demian Maia to a contract after seeing his enormous potential.

Originally slated to go up against veteran Marvin Eastman, the fight had to be changed due to Eastman suffering an injury during training. Because of that injury, Ryan Jensen, who trained with Team Quest for this fight, was named as his replacement. Maia and Jensen fought on October 20th of 2007 at UFC 77: Hostile Territory in Cincinnati, Ohio. The fight was a preliminary fight on the card and it was a quick one. The fight started out with both fighters in a stand-up exchange for only a few moments before Maia secured the takedown of Jensen. From there, Maia displayed his phenomenal jiu-jitsu pedigree and skills to get the fight exactly where he wanted it. Jensen had Maia's head firm in control but Maia was able to pass guard and get quickly into side control just 0:40 into the very first round. Jensen was able to get Maia out of side control but Maia quickly got right back into it just 1:05 into the first round. From there Maia was able to control Jensen's head –along with popping in a few forearms, elbows, and knees for good measure– in order to position Jensen properly. Ryan Jensen tried to scramble out of it and actually did a good job of it as Maia was almost able to mount Jensen but Jensen was able to slip Maia into his half-guard. From the bottom, Jensen remained active and actually did land a few punches to Maia's face along with an elbow or two. But as Jensen went to sweep Maia, Maia took Jensen's back just 2:00 into the first round. With only one arm around Jensen's throat, Maia was almost able to choke Jensen out as Jensen started to turn purple. With little effort at all, Maia was able to sink in his second underhook and forced Ryan Jensen to tap out due to Rear Naked Choke at 2:40 of the first round. He earned the Submission of the Night honors which paid him $40,000. He made $5,000 to show and $5,000 for winning. He made $50,000 for his first UFC fight and victory.

Maia's second opponent in the UFC was Ed Herman, another Team Quest fighter. The fight was at UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre 2 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on April 19th of 2008. It was a preliminary fight. The two came out and exchanged a glove tap. Right away, just 0:04 into the bout, Maia attempted a high left leg kick to the head of Herman but Herman blocked it with his arm. Maia then shot for a takedown and spun Herman into his half-guard. Herman was able to stand up just a few seconds later. Maia continued to work for the takedown, switching from a single leg to a double leg and finally got Herman down at the 0:44 mark of the first round. Maia landed in Herman's half-guard and started to work in some punches in order to loosen Herman's guard up. Herman was able to work his way back up to standing at the 1:00 mark but ate a knee to the midsection while doing so. Maia was working for another takedown from the clinch but ended up pulling guard at the 1:55 mark of the first round. Maia went for an omoplata at the 1:13 mark of the first round and had it in deep but Herman was able to roll out of it. Maia transitioned from the omoplata to a kneebar to a triangle choke in the matter of a few seconds but Herman avoided all of them. Herman landed back in Maia's half-guard and the fight stayed there for the next few moments. At the 3:10 mark of the first round, Maia caught Herman in a heel hook that Maia used to sweep Herman over and get into Ed's guard with. At the 3:40 mark of the first round, Maia achieved the mount position. From there, Maia landed a flurry of punches and elbows. At the 4:25 mark of the first round, Ed Herman was able to successfully buck Maia off of him and dropped into the half-guard of Maia where Herman started to rain leather down on Maia. Maia was able to gain his composure and clinched with Herman in order to get back up to his feet at the 4:35 mark. Each man landed solid knee shots to the midsection. Maia pulled guard at the 4:48 mark of the first round and Herman started to throw his vaunted elbows as the first round came to a close. The first round was likely scored 10-9 for Maia due to his submission attempts and control of the round. As the second round started, both guys looked pretty winded. Herman attempted a body kick just 0:05 into the second round that was shoved away. Maia retaliated with a high leg kick of his own just 0:10 into the second round that landed on Herman's arm. Maia then immediately shot for a takedown but then pulled guard on Herman just 0:13 into the second round. They scrambled back up just 0:20 into the second round and Herman was able to take Maia down 0:26 into the second round. Herman started to rain down punches from half-guard but wasn't effective really. Herman was working punches from half-guard as Maia looked winded just 1:00 into the second round. Herman's leg was trapped and Maia went for a heel hook at the 1:10 mark of the second round but Herman was able to escape. Herman fell back into the half-guard of Maia moments later. Herman's ground and pound started to get sloppy as Maia attempted a triangle choke 1:52 into the second round but Herman identified it and pulled out of it. Herman then rolled back into Maia's guard and was caught in a deep triangle choke 2:04 into the second round. From there, Maia pulled down on Herman's head. Herman attempted to roll out of it at the 2:17 mark of the second round but ended up on his back with Maia on top of him. A very rare sight to see when a triangle choke is being applied. From the top, with the triangle applied, Maia rained down seven flush punches to the exposed face of Herman as the referee stopped the fight due to Herman being unconscious. Demian Maia defeated Ed Herman by Triangle Choke at 2:27 of the second round. He earned Submission of the Night honors which paid him $75,000. He made $5,000 to show and $5,000 for winning. He made $85,000 for his second UFC fight and victory.

Maia's next fight will be at UFC 87: Seek & Destroy where he will take on middleweight Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald. ^[1]

[edit] Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
7 matches	7 wins	0 losses
By knockout	1	0
By submission	5	0
By decision	1	0

Result	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	Ed Herman	Submission (Triangle Choke)	UFC 83: Serra vs. Pierre 2	02008-04-19 19 April 2008	2	2:27	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won Submission of the Night Honors
Win	Ryan Jensen	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	UFC 77: Hostile Territory	02007-10-20 20 October 2007	1	2:40	Cincinnati, Ohio, USA	Won Submission of the Night Honors
Win	Ryan Stout	TKO (Injury)	GFC – Evolution	02007-05-19 19 May 2007	1	1:59	Columbus, Ohio, USA
Win	Fabio Negao	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	Super Challenge 1	02006-10-07 07 October 2006	1	0:38	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	Gustavo Machado	Decision (Unanimous)	Super Challenge 1	02006-10-07 07 October 2006	2	5:00	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	Vitelmo Kubis Bandeira	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Super Challenge 1	02006-10-07 07 October 2006	1	3:31	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	Lukas Chlewicki	Submission (Armbar)	The Cage – Volume 4	02005-12-03 03 December 2005	1	4:22	Helsinki, Finland