#6
Damian Maia
Record: 14-2-0
Summary: submissions
Fighter Info
From:Sao Paulo, Brazil Brazil
Fights Out Of:Sao Paulo Brazil
Age:33
Height:6' 0" ( 182 cm )
Weight:185 lb ( 84 kg )
Degree:Journalism
The UFC announced that it had signed Maia to a contract on August 7, 2007.[7] He was originally matched against veteran Marvin Eastman, but Eastman pulled out due to eye surgery.[8] Ryan Jensen, who trained with Team Quest for this fight, was named as his replacement. The preliminary bout took place on October 20 at UFC 77: Hostile Territory in Cincinnati, Ohio. Maia won by rear naked choke in the first round and was awarded the Submission of the Night award, which paid him $40,000.
Maia next fought Ed Herman, another Team Quest fighter, at UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre 2 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on April 19, 2008. Maia defeated Herman by triangle choke at 2:27 of the second round. He again earned Submission of the Night for the victory, which paid him $75,000.[9]
Maia's third fight was at UFC 87: Seek & Destroy where he took on middleweight Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald. Both fighters entered the cage having won back-to-back Submission of the Night victories in the UFC. Maia went on to defeat MacDonald by rear naked choke at 2:44 of the third round,[10] earning $60,000 for Submission of the Night.[11] With this award he became the first UFC fighter to earn three consecutive Submissions of the Nights.[12] His four consecutive dominating submissions in the UFC have quickly brought his skills to the forefront as possibly being the best pure grappler in the UFC.[13]
Maia defeated Nate Quarry at UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar by rear naked choke in the first round.[14] After the fight, Maia expressed interest in fighting Michael Bisping next.
Instead, Maia would take on Chael Sonnen in London, England at UFC 95 (February 21).[15] During the match, Maia tossed Sonnen over his head using a lateral drop takedown, taking Sonnen to the ground, where Maia immediately achieved mount. Maia then baited and transitioned to a triangle choke, forcing Sonnen to tap out at 2:37 of the first round. The bout earned Maia his fourth Submission of the Night award in five UFC fights.
Maia's next opponent was Nate Marquardt at UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira on August 29. Maia was knocked out 21 seconds into the fight, resulting in his first career loss.
Maia faced Dan Miller on February 6, 2010, at UFC 109: Relentless and won the fight via unanimous decision. In a surprising turn, Maia did not take the fight to the ground and stated in the post fight interview that this was done to show that he could strike.[16]
After Vitor Belfort had to pull out of his upcoming match with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 112 due to a shoulder injury suffered in training, Maia was selected to fill the spot and take Silva on for the belt in what would be the UFC's first ever open air event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[17]
In the first two rounds, Silva appeared to mock his opponent, while also executing quick, precise striking. In the third round, however, Silva's tempo seemed to change and looked to Maia to be the aggressor of the fight while he largely circled and taunted his opponent. In the fifth round, Silva's lack of action prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Silva over his conduct and the crowd began to side with Maia.[18] After 5 rounds, Silva was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
Silva was criticised for his performance, with Dana White saying that it was the most embarrassed he has ever been since becoming UFC president.[19] Midway through the fourth round, White walked away and gave the championship belt to Silva's manager, Ed Soares, as he was so annoyed that he did not want to place the belt around Silva's waist personally.[20] It was also claimed that Silva verbally insulted Maia during the fight.[21]
Maia was then expected to fight Alan Belcher on September 15, 2010, at UFC Fight Night 22.[22] However, on August 1, 2010, Belcher withdrew from the fight after undergoing emergency eye surgery. Belcher stated on his Twitter account that he started to lose the vision in his right eye while in Brazil.[23] As a result, Maia was also pulled from the event[24] and faced Mario Miranda on August 28, 2010, at UFC 118.[25] Maia defeated Mario Miranda via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).
Maia faced Kendall Grove on December 4, 2010, at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale.[26] where he won by uninamous decision. Maia displayed improved stand-up rather than focusing on his jiu jitsu, as he did in his earlier UFC bouts. Maia topped the TUF 12 Finale fighter salaries, collecting $80,000 for his win over Grove.[27]
Maia is expected to face Mark Muñoz on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damian_Maia
