I was a fan of Demian Maia because of his amazing, world-class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills. The man is a 5 time world champion in BJJ and without a doubt one of the best practitioners of the art today.
Maia defeated Ed Herman on the 19th of April 2008 with a devastating Triangle Choke/head pounding combo that I will never forget.
Maia then went on to defeat 2 time Middleweight Championship Contender Chael Sonnen on February 21st 2009, again, using his incredible BJJ.
After that, Demian faced some road bumps in his career as a UFC Middleweight. Falling victim to current Strikeforce Welterweight champion Nate Marquardt by devastating knockout in just 21 seconds, being humiliated by the Greatest Of All Time Anderson Silva in a lackluster fight, dropping a decision to Mark Munoz and finally his decision loss to Chris Weidman.
I'm ashamed to admit it but watching the Weidman fight is when I finally decided that I was no longer a fan of Demian Maia. In my eyes he had the ability to submit anyone in the world, yet he had fallen in love with striking even though he wasn't very good at it. I was frustrated the few times I watched Maia put on a sloppy kickboxing performance and the Weidman fight was the last straw.
I couldn't believe it. One of my favourite fighters had become a sloppy kickboxer and an unsuccessful brawler.
However, I am happy to report that Maia's move to the Welterweight division has relit the fire that was gone in his last few outings. His Welterweight debut against the Stungun - Dong Hyun Kim - was the moment I became a Demian Maia fan again. The fight had a rather disappointing ending; Kim suffered a rib injury and couldn't continue, but Maia's performance and intentions were exactly what I was looking for.
He instantly looked for the takedown. Transitioned into full mount and went for some ground and pound, you could tell if the fight hadn't been stopped that it was only a matter of time before Maia latched on one of his trademark submission holds.
Then, on October 13th 2012, Demian Maia faced off with Rick Story in his homeland of Brazil. I have to say I was pretty worried for this fight. I am aware that Story is a strong wrestler and I had a feeling that Maia might not even look to take the fight to the ground and just initiate a kickboxing match with Rick. I was delighted when watching that fight. Again, Maia instantly looks for the takedown, passes all of Rick Story's defences and latches on to his throat and squeezes, squeezes hard.
In fact, squeezes so hard that blood shoots out of Story's nostrils forcing him to tap. This submission was truly visceral and technical at the same time.
I'm glad to report that I am well and truly a Demian Maia fan again. His BJJ was what made me a fan of his originally, when he abandoned it for a while I was worried but now that he is back to his roots I couldn't be happier.
I cannot wait for Maia's next fight. No matter who he is facing, I have Maia by sub :)
