UFC News: Demian Maia rumored to face former World Jiu-Jitsu Champion Gilbert Burns in March
It's 2020, Demien Maia is 42 years old, and he is on a three-fight winning streak. Class is indeed permanent.
As reported by MMAMania, the Brazilian veteran could return to the Octagon for a mouth-watering clash against fellow-Brazilian BJJ virtuoso Gilbert Burns in a co-main event fight at UFC Fight Night 170, which is scheduled to take place in Brasilia, Brazil on March 14th.
Maia has lost just three of his last thirteen fights and those losses came consecutively. It all began when he took on Tyron Woodley at UFC 214 for the Welterweight Championship and suffered a unanimous decision loss.
He went on to drop two more decisions to Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman before getting back in the win column with a submission victory against Lyman Good in February 2019. He faced Anthony Rocco Martin June last year and notched up a majority decision win.
Maia ended 2019 with one the biggest wins of his career as he stopped Ben Askren with a rear-naked choke in October.
Maia is still ranked #6 in the Welterweight rankings and his standing in the division could be on the line when he takes on the #13 ranked Gilbert Burns.
Burns, a 2nd Degree BJJ Black Belt and a former BJJ World Champion, is on a 4-fight win streak, with his last win coming against Gunnar Nelson in September last year.
While Maia is known to be the undisputed king when it comes to BJJ practitioners in the UFC, Burns is a potentially world-class challenger who has all the tools to outfox Maia on the ground.