At 41, Demian Maia still knows how to put a winning streak together against the best fighters in the world.
Saturday night, Maia (27-9 MMA, 21-9 UFC) earned a three-round unanimous decision victory over Anthony Rocco Martin (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC).
The welterweight bout was part of the main card of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 3 event at Target Center in Minneapolis. It aired on ESPN.
With the victory, Maia becomes the second-winningest fighter in the promotion’s history with 21. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone currently holds sole possession of first place with 23 octagon victories.
The Brazilian set the tone early, shooting for a takedown in the opening minutes of the bout. From there, Maia controlled the fight in vintage fashion.
While he showed flashes of brilliance at times, Martin was unable to get his offense going in the opening two frames. Impressively, Martin did use a guillotine choke to fend off multiple Maia takedown attempts.
Martin’s best moments came late in the third round. After stalking a visibly tired Maia for much of the stanza, Martin landed a hard shot on Maia who began to retreat. But it was too little too late for Martin, as Maia savvily pulled guard and held on until the final horn sounded.
It was initially believed the Brazilian swept judges’ scorecards (29-28×3), but an update later on the broadcast stated the bout was actually a majority draw victory for the Brazilian.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 3 results include:
- Demian Maia def. Anthony Rocco Martin by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Vinc Pichel def. Roosevelt Roberts by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Drew Dober def. Marco Polo Reyes by TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:07
- Alonzo Menifield def. Paul Craig by knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:19
- Ricardo Ramos def. Journey Newson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Eryk Anders def. Vinicius Moreira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:18
- Jared Gordon def. Dan Moret via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Dalcha Lungiambula def. Dequan Townsend via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:42
- Amanda Ribas def. Emily Whitmire via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:10
- Maurice Greene def. Junior Albini via TKO (punches), Round 1 3:38
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN 3, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
