On Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 214, Brazilian jiu jitsu wizard Demian Maia finally got his long-awaited welterweight title shot. His chance came against talented champion Tyron Woodley.
Unfortunately for Maia and his many fans, Woodley was simply the better man on fight night. Of the 21 takedowns Maia attempted, not one was successful, while Woodley was able to out-strike him on the feet and nearly finish him with a punch early on. The end result was a clear unanimous decision win for the champ.
Shortly after this disappointing failed title bid, Maia sat down to discuss the fight itself and his future with the media. Apparently, he has no intention of slowing down.
“Unfortunately for the guys in my division, I will keep going,” Maia told the media after his loss to Woodley (h/t MMAJunkie.com). “I have more energy to burn. I want to keep going a little bit more. I don’t know. Let’s see what happens – they’re thinking about opening 165-, 175-[pound divisions]. Let’s see.”
“I never give up. I came to this fight on five weeks’ notice, and I leave this fight with my head up.”
Maia also commented on his abbreviated training camp, and admitted he probably would have faired better if he had more time to prepare.
“Of course, if you think about probabilities, I think I would increase my probabilities to win the fight if I had more time,” Maia said. “A longer camp. But I don’t want to complain. That was my chance and I accepted the chance. I came here. And I did what I needed to do.”
“The other thing is that his gravity center is very low,” Maia added. “And he’s really strong. It plays a role that makes him harder to take him down. I need to be very sharp to take him down. And he defended well. He defended the takedowns pretty well. I couldn’t do the variations that I usually down and take him down, or go to his back.”
“I have nothing but respect for him. Like I said, I don’t want to give any excuses. I just came there, I did my best and I lost.”
What did you think of Demian Maia’s fight with Tyron Woodley?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/30/2017.