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Demian Maia Baptista

(born November 6, 1977 in Sao Paulo, Brazil) is a professional mixed martial arts fighter.


Biography

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Maia trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as Judo as a child. When he became a teenager, he also began studying Kung Fu and Karate. Demian Maia finished college and graduated with a degree in Journalism. He is currently a second degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has won several major tournaments under Team Brasa.

He won the 77 kg - 87 kg weight division at the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, defeating Yushin Okami, Rafael Lovato, and Tarsis Humphres before armbarring Flavio Almeida in the finals. He also won the 2007 Super Challenge under 83 kg belt, defeating Vitelmo Kubis Bandeira by rear naked choke and Gustavo Machado by a judges decision before going on to defeat Fabio Negao by guillotine choke in the finals. Maia appears in the instructional DVD The Science of Jiu Jitsu I & II.



Mixed martial arts career

Early career

On December 3 of 2005, Maia made his mixed martial arts debut against Lukas Chlewicki at The Cage - Volume 4 in Helsinki, Finland. In just 4:22, Maia submitted Chlewicki by armbar to win his MMA debut. After nearly a year, he returned to compete at Super Challenge 1, earning three victories in one night to be crowned the 2007 Super Challenge Champion in the under-83kgs division. In 2007, he competed in GFC - Evolution against Ryan Stout. Early in the first round, Stout's shoulder popped out of socket after Maia reversing him into a mount, causing a stoppage due to injury.


UFC career

The UFC announced that it had signed Maia to a contract on August 7, 2007. He was originally matched against veteran Marvin Eastman, but Eastman pulled out due to eye surgery. 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 won Submission of the Night honors, 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 honors for the victory, which paid him $75,000.

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, earning $60,000 for Submission of the Night. With this award he became the first UFC fighter to earn three consecutive Submission of the Night honors. 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.

Maia defeated Nate Quarry at UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar by rear naked choke in the first round. 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). 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's fourth Submission of the Night award in five UFC fights.

Maia's next opponent was Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 on 29th of August. Maia was knocked out 21 seconds into the fight, resulting in his first career loss.


Grappling credentials

* ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships

* ADCC 2007 77–87 kg: 1st place

* ADCC 2005 77–87 kg: 2nd place

* Record of opponents:

* Lost: Marcelo Garcia (points), Romulo Barral (choke)

* CBJJ World Championships

* 2001 Brown Belt Medio-Pesado: 2nd Place

* 2000 Purple Belt Medio-Pesado: 1st Place

* 1999 Blue Belt Medio: 2nd Place

* CBJJ Brazilian Championships

* 2006 Black Belt Absolute: 2nd Place & Black Belt Medium Heavy: =3rd Place

* 2002 Brown Belt Medio-Pesado: =3rd Place

* 2001 Brown Belt Medio-Pesado: 1st Place & Brown Belt Medio-Pesado: =3rd Place

* CBJJ Brazilian Team Championships

* 2003 Brown/Black Pesada: Master, 1st Place

* 2002 Brown/Black Pesada: Alliance, 2nd Place

* 2001 Brown/Black Pesada: Alliance, 1st Place

* 2000 Purple Belt Pesada: Alliance, 1st Place

* CBJJO Copa Del Mundo

* 2005 –85 kg Black Belt: 1st Place

* 2003 Black Belt Meio Pesado: =3rd Place & Black Belt Absolute: 1st Place

* 2002 Black Belt Meio Pesado: 1st Place & Black Belt Absolute: 2nd Place


Personal life

Demian has a wife named Renada. Maia listed UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie as his inspiration to begin an MMA career, but lists Royce's brother Rickson Gracie, as his primary hero. Maia speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English.


Awards

* 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion
* 2007 Super Challenge under-83kgs Champion
* 2006 Pan American Champion
* 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Runner-Up
* 3x World Cup champion
* 2x World Champion
* Brazilian champion
* 7x State champion
* 4x Brazilian team champion
* 4x UFC Submission of the Night



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