Demian Maia has been very polite in waiting for his title shot. This is become almost a running joke how polite he is after every victory. Yes, he’d like the Welterweight UFC Title but he’s not necessarily crushed by waiting to see how Woodley vs Wonderboy Thompson plays out.

But his profile has been undoubtedly raised with the brilliance he exhibited in his fight with Carlos Condit. With the added media attention he’s also come in contact with a lot of criticism, criticism that may be coming from the same fans that boo in the UFC when the fight hits the ground. 

Maia told MMAJunkie radio:

“To become a real sport, (MMA) needs to be more seen and held as a sport, not as a show

We want to see MMA grow and to keep growing for the next 100 years and be a big sport like basketball, football, soccer, we need to hold it as a sport. The goal of a sport is one goal, it is to win.

You watch a tennis match because you want to see who is going to win, who is the winner, not who plays this style or this style. If you watch NFL (the team in the finals is not) the guy who plays a more interesting game or the game you like most. You’re going to put the winners. And that’s why those are sports and they are growing sports. If you like the sport, you like the sport.”

And indeed the 38 year old Maia can hardly boast with his explosiveness. His success is largely resulted from his jiu-jitsu expertise as well as outstanding wrestling. Maia himself credited his success to both. He started training with elite wrestlers several years ago and loves both disciplines he has to thank for his success.

Maia’s criticism of UFC fans is largely deserved since the organization resorted to reprising Brock Lesnar  for it’s 200th edition when the fight everyone wanted to see but also had no title implications fell through – McGregor vs Diaz. 

And really Maia’s words mirror words of many others, among them MMA vet Murilo Bustamente. He told Grappling Central Podcast recently just how amazed he was always to fight in Japan because the audience there was quite different – they were watching for martial arts not for entertainment value.

And the UFC is certainly changing with the new owners, just yesterday longtime match maker Joe Silva announced he will be leaving the coveted spot – while many media estimate that nowadays the fights make themselves with all the fighters eager to stand out and capitalize on the victory momentum. Maia urged them in the same interview:

“They need to read what sport they’re going too, I hope they know how to read. If they know how to read, they should read they are going to watch MMA and not something else. Not boxing, not kickboxing. Also, if they like the show, they can always go to WWE and watch those fights. If they’re a little bit smarter than that they can learn and become real fans.”

He continued: “There are some fights that are boring on the ground or in the stand-up they are boring. When the fight is there they are boring in the stand-up, but it can be a little more exciting. When it’s boring on the ground it’s just boring, I understand. I try to do my best, but people have to understand I am fighting at a really high level and sometimes it’s hard to jump on the back and get people out. … It’s the same in all sports. It’s not always crazy exciting.”