Demian Maia is on a six-fight winning streak and still hasn’t received a welterweight title shot.
It isn’t as if Maia has fought cans in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In his current streak, he has submitted former interim champion Carlos Condit, Matt Brown, and Neil Magny. He hasn’t lost since Feb. 2014 against Rory MacDonald.
The No. 3 ranked 170-pounder is holding out for his shot at the welterweight title. The reason why he has to wait for his shot, is due to a title rematch between champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson.
In their first encounter, “The Chosen One” and “Wonderboy” fought to a majority draw inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. The fight served as the co-main event for UFC 205.
Maia was a recent guest on The MMA Hour (via MMAMania.com). He said he’s well aware of the trash-talking nature in the UFC, but feels it could be the promotion’s downfall:
“That’s another thing I think is a mistake. Every sport in the world, football, soccer, every sport that has many years and is consolidated, people like to watch because they want to see the winner. They don’t watch the NBA, or the Australian open in tennis because they want to see the guy who talks more or the guy (who) is more outspoken. They want to see (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal because they are the best. They don’t want to see someone just because they play more fancy. At the end of the day, (the people) who follow sports like to see who wins. Some people like to see people who talk sh*t, but those are not the people who are going to carry on the sport forever. If we don’t change (the way we) think as a sport, the sport will be remembered as a nice thing ten years from now, but it has gone.”
