Demian Maia is standing by for his shot at the welterweight title but while he sits idle he talked about what he thought about Woodley vs Stephen Wonderboy Thompson and what he felt were mistakes he could capitalize on in matchup with either of those two.
Maia was observing the fight accompanied by his manager Eduardo Alonso along with his wife. He told MMA Hour:
“For me, I will be very honest to you, Eduardo (Alonso) was more ahead — he realized it was a very bad thing for us. But for me, it was okay. For me it was like … the fight was okay, it was good. The fourth round was really good. But the first, second, third, and the last round, for me, it was like normal, it was nothing special.
So I said, ‘okay, but the fight was not that great, I don’t think they will do the rematch.’ And then Eduardo said, ‘no, there is a chance they can try to do it, because it was a draw.’ And he was right.”
The outcome really doesn’t favor Maia as he’s in a limbo of sorts.
UFC president Dana White declared a rematch is likely in the cards for Woodley and Thompson but also that Maia will be given a choice between waiting on the sidelines or fighting again in the interim.
And as for the Robbie Lawler fight that was offered to him:
“I don’t understand what is happening, because Dana said right after the fight that I was next, I could wait if they do the rematch with Woodley and ‘Wonderboy,'” Maia said. “Sit and wait, or get another fight. So, I don’t understand what’s happening. I believe in Dana’s words. Also, ‘Cowboy’ (Cerrone) says he wants to fight me. So first they need to do the rematch. Let’s see if they will do the rematch or not.
If they really want to do the rematch, okay, we can think about another fight. But if I would fight again, it would be great to fight on the same card as ‘Wonderboy’ and Woodley, because maybe somebody gets hurt, I can jump in. Or even if nobody gets hurt, we are in the same cycle.”
Maia is an expert but he has one major aspect working against him – he’s currently 39 and he knows his time as a professional fighter is limited.
“But the thing is, I know I’m right there, like Dana said. Tyron, he got his chance after two wins. Robbie got his chance after three wins. Nick (Diaz) got his chance after a loss. So, you know, what else can I do? All of my victories were against ranked guys except one. The last couple fights, I submitted really tough opponents. I’m here and I’m not asking for the title. I’m asking for a title shot.
“I’m asking for a chance. That’s it. And you know what makes me angry sometimes is, right now I know I can win against everyone in my weight division. Right now, I really trust that I can win, even against Wonderboy, Woodley, or any other guy. You don’t know how long you’re going to last with this confidence and this ability and this physical conditioning, but right now, I feel that if I would fight this Saturday, I would be the champ.”
“I saw weaknesses in both,” Maia said. “… I saw one big problem with Wonderboy and one big problem with Tyron that I can capitalize on.
“It doesn’t matter where. It doesn’t matter where, I just want to be the next,” Maia added. “I know I deserve it. I know it’s a tough spot. I know you can make an argument for me or for Thompson. I hope, I hope I will (get the) fight.”
