Demian Maia is probably the biggest ambassador for bjj in the UFC right now. The 39 year old Brazilian is a silver medalist at ADCC and made his name in the bjj world, however this doesn’t mean he’ll be returning to it any time soon even though many are – including former champion Jose Aldo.
“At ADCC, I was a champion and I took second place,” he said. “I’m a professional fighter. To do a training camp [for a jiu-jitsu tournament] means having to spend resources, time and focus on that, and still maybe not get anything for it. I arrived at a level where I think I have the position to only accept super fights.” – Maia told Ag Fight via Flocombat.
“It has to be more rigorous, I support them,” Maia said. “I don’t see a problem when these guys come to my house. After the fight with [Tyron] Woodley, on Wednesday [after UFC 214], they knocked on my door at 9:30 p.m. No problem, it’s a part of our sport. It’s annoying sometimes to tell them where you are all the time, but it’s a price to pay that is worth it. I still think there are people who take things and don’t take [USADA] seriously. But I think [USADA] can avoid more doping than before.”
“Jon Jones had everything to become the greatest of all time, passing [Georges] St-Pierre and Anderson [Silva], but I think these [doping] cases make it hard to defend him as the best of all time,” Maia said. “He is one of the best of all time, but you can’t ignore such a thing.”
Would you love to see Maia come back in a bjj superfight?
