Demian Maia has been the most impacted by the stalemate performances that both Stephen Wonderboy Thompson and Tyron Woodley put on – not once but twice. The two famously fought to a draw on the first occasion.
Still many were baffled after Maia accepted the fight against Jorge Masvidal. Now he’s shed some light on the conundrum and the kind of situation he was put in by the UFC to FoxSports.com:
“I did not change anything in my head, it changed in the head of the UFC,” Maia told AGFight in Brazil. “[The UFC] said I would have to take this fight to be able to fight for the title. I had an option, which was to accept the fight if I wanted to fight for the belt [after that], and I accepted.
“Who decides who will fight for the title is the UFC.”
“There are things that happen and we have to keep [quiet] and do what has to be done”, Maia said. “I can not talk about everything that happens because it involves other people and it involves everything that helps or hinders my career.”
Maia was previously given assurances repeatedly he was next in line for a title – which is fairly natural given his number 3 ranking in the Welterweight division of the UFC. One other factor that could’ve hindered the chance of Maia getting a title shot was the return of Georges St.Pierre. On that topic Maia was quite clear:
“I’m glad they didn’t set up his fight in my weight category,” Maia told MMAjunkie after the Friday weigh-ins for this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 106.
