Demian Maia wants Lawler-Condit winner, but MacDonald 'best fighter' in division

Demian Maia

Demian Maia agrees with many of the fans who have approached him since his most recent win: He’s ready for another title shot.

However, while he’s hoping for a fight against the winner of tonight’s UFC 195 pay-per-view headliner between welterweight champion Robbie Lawler (26-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) and challenger Carlos Condit (30-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC), he thinks the division’s best fighter isn’t part of that matchup.

Instead, Maia (22-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC), a former middleweight title challenger who’s riding a four-fight winning streak following a recent victory over fellow jiu-jitsu specialist Gunnar Nelson, points to a former foe as the sport’s best 170-pounder: Rory MacDonald (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC).

“Rory is a great fighter,” Maia told MMAjunkie Radio. “For me, he’s the best fighter in the weight category. Even though he lost to Lawler (in 2013), I still think he’s the hardest fighter to beat in the category.”

Maia knows that as well as anyone. The 38-year-old Brazilian suffered an early-2014 loss to MacDonald at UFC 170.

Maia, who’s ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, started strong against No. 3-ranked MacDonald in that bout. But after a successful first round, Maia’s takedown attempts became harder to get, and MacDonald capitalized on the exhausted grappler.

“That fight with Rory, I think I shot his legs something like 20 times through the fight,” Maia said. “It was crazy. Even if you have the best cardio in the world, it’s hard to shoot 20 times in a fight and still be fresh.”

Stand and bang out? You’ll burn some energy, Maia said, but it won’t completely deplete you. However, “even not-so-intense” ground fighting will wear you down, and his relentless pursuit of the takedown – plus his inability to mentally adjust to the failures – simply sapped him by later in the fight, he said.

“Of course, you improve every fight, but every training camp with the cardio, everybody says, ‘Demian is flying in training,'” he said. “Then suddenly once I get in the fight, I get tired. There are many reasons. … I think my style spends more energy.”

He said that loss was a turning point, and we’ve got some reason to believe him. After all, he’s won four straight since then with three of the bouts going the distance, including the one with Nelson that ended in hugely lopsided 30-26, 30-25 and 30-25 scores.

While the MacDonald loss was a learning experience, Maia said the Nelson victory was just as vital. The reason, he said, is that it prompted some fan support for a title shot.

“After this last fight, I got a lot of feedback from the fans, and I see every fan say, ‘You should fight for the title,'” he said. “And, of course, that’s what I want to do. But it doesn’t depend on just me. But I’ll push with my effort to do that.”

Although No. 4-ranked Tyron Woodley (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is expected to get the next title shot, Maia still hopes to cut the line.

“I hope I’m next, and I know Woodley wants to be next … but we need to wait and see what happens this weekend,” he said. “I respect (Woodley) a lot. He’s a good and tough fighter. He deserves it. But everyone wants the title. I’m not getting younger. I want to fight for it too.”

And if he does get the title shot? Maia said we can expect his welterweight title shot to go a lot better than his one at middleweight, where he suffered a 2010 title loss to then-champ Anderson Silva, a bout in which “I was lost in those first couple rounds,” he said, and felt intimidated as a massive underdog heading into it.

Now, though?

“I’m smelling the title shot, like when I fought Anderson Silva.” he said. “I’m feeling the same thing right now. But now I’m a different fighter. I’m much more mature. I’m in the right weight category, so I think now I can truly win it all.”

For more on UFC 195, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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