Demian Maia has always been a champion of the bjj community – even if at times this made him unattractive to the UFC and substantially delayed his title shot.

“It’s the shortest camp I’ve had since joining the UFC, and it is for the most important fight I’ve ever had here. I accepted the fight because we want to be a champion, [so] we have to plan it out, put in the work and do our best to get there at 100 percent.” Maia told AG Fight.

Maia remains skeptical about the future of MMA in Brazil thanks to how he’s been treated by the promotion:

“It’s very difficult to know what will happen to MMA in Brazil, because it doesn’t depend only on Brazil,” Maia said. “It’s up to the UFC to want to be more plural, to give Brazilians more chances. They could’ve given ‘Jacaré’ a chance. It depends on whether the bosses want to keep it all more Americanized for the U.S. public or if they want to open up to the world.”

Maia’s manager Eduardo Alonso added:

“I think when he lost to Jake Shields and Rory MacDonald, despite these being hard fights, there–it’s an opinion–I think the UFC kind of gave up [on him] and wanted to use Demian as a ladder for other athletes,” Alonso said. “Especially in the fight against Gunnar Nelson. Without going into much detail, [they] insisted we accepted that fight.

“I think people were sure Gunnar Nelson would win and I believe they bet on him. But it was not until the last moment that they wanted to [use Maia as a stepping stone], and the evidence came with the fight against Masvidal, who still thought Demian would be a ladder for other athletes. [But] it is just an opinion.”

On the other hand Woodley has been preparing for the fight with a big ace in his pocket – Ben Askren.

Meanwhile BJJ Scout just released part 2 of his Askren study proving just how much of an innovator Askren is and how lucky Woodley is to have him in his camp: