Two legends of mixed martial arts will square off in a grappling match later this year.
Georges St-Pierre announced his return earlier this month during International Fight Week. The Canadian revealed his plans to compete at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 on December 14th. When St-Pierre broke the news, he was still uncertain who his opponent would be. Just 3 days later that would change when Demian Maia declared his status as St-Pierre’s opponent.
Georges St-Pierre Gets Opponent for Return
Multiple potential opponents had been brought up for St-Pierre, including Khabib Nurmagomedov. St-Pierre quickly dismissed these ideas and revealed earlier this week that Nick Diaz was his likely opponent. Due to this, the news of Demian Maia as his opponent came as a bit of a surprise despite Maia’s interest in the match. Little has been announced about the event other than the date, but that’s expected this far out.
Demian Maia announced the bout himself via Twitter.
Maia talked about how the fight brings him great motivation due to GSP’s status in MMA. Maia holds a 28-11 record in MMA (22-11 UFC) and is coming off a 2 fight-losing streak to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. The veteran never officially retired despite not having fought since June of 2021, wanting a send-off he never received. Hopefully, this match gives Maia the sendoff he was looking for with many fans expected to be tuned in.
Despite ending his MMA career on a losing streak, the Brazilian is riding a 2 fight-win streak in grappling. Having competed twice in 2020, Maia was able to submit Alex Oliveira and win a decision over Benson Henderson. Maia’s grappling and submission skills are thought to be some of the best in MMA history, so it’ll be interesting to see how they stack up against “Rush”.
What do you think of Georges St-Pierre taking on Demian Maia? Do you think he’ll be able to deal with his grappling? Let us know in the comments below.
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