Jennifer Maia is sure that her weight-cutting issues are behind her.
Maia (17-6-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) faces Viviane Araujo on Aug. 1, where she will look to climb back up to flyweight contention. Maia missed weight in her last two outings, and the former Invicta FC champion chalks up her mishaps to being ill-prepared.
“I’ve been fighting for a long time,” Maia told MMA Junkie. “I had always made weight. But, for my last two bouts, there were strategic errors during my preparation. They caused me problems at the weigh-ins. Those errors have been corrected. It won’t happen again. The problem was in trying to maximize my physical strength before the final stages of the weight cut.”
After notching wins over Alexis Davis and Roxanne Modafferi in her first two UFC fights, Maia suffered a unanimous decision loss to Katlyn Chookagian last November, who went on to challenge champion Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title.
While Maia is focused on Araujo, she has her sights set on one day getting a shot at the title.
“I look at things one fight at a time,” Maia said. “Of course, I very much want the UFC belt. I’m looking to get there, but my focus now is completely on the bout against Viviane. Hopefully a victory will push me even closer to the top of the division so I can eventually face the champion.”
Similarly to Maia, Araujo impressed in her first two UFC fights but suffered a unanimous decision loss to former flyweight title challenger Jessica Eye in her last outing at UFC 245.
So Maia is expecting a very game Araujo when the meet on the Aug. 1 event, which was rescheduled from an original June 27 date.
“‘Vivi’ is truly tough,” Maia said. “She’s had excellent performances inside the UFC. I think it’s going to be a great fight. It’s going to be a challenge. We’ll both be constantly looking for a finish. I’ve been training hard for this specific fight. I’m confident I’ll be bringing this win home. I don’t know exactly how the fight will end, but I plan to make sure it happens before it goes to the judges.
“In this fight, and going forward, I want to show things that I haven’t yet been able to show in the UFC. I want to show how much sharper my game is. I want people to see that I’m a different fighter now.”
