Demian Maia - 5th Degree BJJ Black Belt and UFC Champion

Demian Maia is a Brazilian fighter recognized as a leading MMA fighter and Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He is a five times Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion. Being inspired by Royce and Rickson Gracies, he decided to start practicing Jiu-Jitsu as the foundation for his martial arts career. He was proficient enough in executing judo, karate, and kung fu techniques. Maia’s MMA debut fight is still one of his best victories in the MMA world where he finished the match in just 48 seconds with a technical knockout.

Demian Maia is a Brazilian who was born on 6th November 1977 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His full name is Demian Augusto Maia Baptista and his father's name is Guto Maia. His mother belongs to Russia. Demian and his younger brother were very active in their childhood. He shared in one of his interviews that:

His martial arts journey moved further when he reached the age of 19. After completing his graduation in journalism, Demian started learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Demian started his BJJ training at Fabio Araujos Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. It was an honor for Fabio to train under Carlson Gracie and earn the Brown Belt rank.

Demian's debut fight in the “Tormenta Del Ring” tournament in Venezuela with Rail Sosa turned into a victory in 48 seconds with TKO.

In 2007, Demian fought and won some fights in Ohio. After the cancellation of the deal with K-1, Demian signed a contract with UFC. He nailed Ryan Jensen of Team Quest with a Rear Naked Choke and forced Ed Herman and Jason MacDonald to submission in the later fights.

Demian experienced his first career loss in 2009 while striking and grappling with his opponent Nate Marquardt.

In 2010, Demian defeated Dan Miller and Kendall Grove through unanimous decisions. In 2011, losing a 15-minute battle with Mark Munoz was a big surprise for everyone.

Then later in 2011, Damian defeated Jorge Satiago by unanimous decision. Santiago was highly skilled in Jiu-Jitsu but was defeated. On the other side, Santiago had more success while standing and striking.

After that, Demian decided to drop to the welterweight division of 170 pounds. Then he earned a series of wins against renowned fighters.

On Oct 12, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, the remarkable fight against Rick Story was worth mentioning. Maia’s Rear Naked Choke was lethal.

In 2013, he lost the fight against Jake Shields. Then in 2014, Demian was defeated by Rory MacDonald by a unanimous decision but won the Fight of the Night Award.

Moving forward, in 2015 and 2016, Demian secured a number of wins against highly skilled fighters like Matt Brown and Carlos Condit.

Damian won against Masvidal in 2017 and then was set back by Tyron Woodley in 2017.

Demian took a keen interest in Jiu-Jitsu during his college days. He practiced BJJ three times a day while studying journalism. Training under brown belt Fabio Araujo motivated Demian to excel his skills in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Before achieving the black belt, Demian achieved the title of world champion in 2000 with a Purple Belt ranking and then in 2001 with Brown Belt. From 2002 to 2005 he consecutively won the championships.

As a Purple Belt, Demian became a World Champion in 2000. In 2001, Demian won a Brown Belt Championship. Demian did not break his streak and went on claiming the World Champion title till 2005. Demian Maia nearly took five years, precisely four years and seven months, to achieve his BJJ black belt, which was a record in itself in Jiu-Jitsu history.

Demians Maia’s life changed when he decided to compete in ADCC. That was the turning

point of his career. Fighting under the 88 kg weight division was the second attempt after previously losing a match to Ronaldo Jacare.

In the first match, Demian easily defeated the grappler Yushin Okami by pulling a guard.

Second match was a real tough one against Rafael Lovato Jr. He was highly skilled BJJ fighter, but Demian was successful in defeating Rafael.

At the 2007 ADCC semifinals, Demian was scheduled to fight against Tarsis Humphreys. Demian and Tarsis were friends for a very long time which is why the match was a little tough for both guys. Demian started the match with a slow pace but in the end won the fight via points.

After winning the semifinals, Demian went into the finals with the aim to become ADCC World Champion. His final match was with Flavio Almeida who is himself an accomplished grappler. He is famous for defeating professional grapplers such as Romulo Barral, Sauli Helimo and Rick Macauley.

Demian is famous for his slow defensive game, carried the same style throughout the fight and won the fight via an Armbar submission. Demian’s guards were the most spectacular technique in the fight that made the whole audience gaze with admiration. He then became the ADCC World Champion. His perfect balance between guards and sweeps was the most fascinating part of the fight.

The next match with Tarsis Humphreys was a challenge. Tarsis was an old friend of Demian. Demian with mixed feelings followed the slow pace strategy, misunderstood by the opponent and finally, Demian’s victory was announced.

Now, for Demian, everything was going fine. This time in the finals, his opponent was Flavio Almeida who had defeated the pro-BJJ players like Romulo Barral, Sauli Hellimo, and Rick Macauley. Maia followed the same slow pace strategy to secure his guard and eventually won the match with arm lock submission.

It was the time when Demian was positioned as the ADCC world champion. Throughout the championship, he showed the audience how strategically modeled close guards combined with submissions, controls, and sweeps proved to be effective in winning the bouts. It was the time when he took gold in the regular division.

Demian Maia was awarded 5th degree black belt in 2021. Nearly two decades passed and he received his Black Belt from Master Fabio Gurgel.

Following is the table displaying Demian Maia Victories and defeats before becoming a pro MMA fighter.

On 21 September 2001, Demian Maia won his debut match against Raul Sosa in just 48 seconds. After that, he took a four year break and defeated Lukasz Chewlicki by armbar at the Cage Vol.4.

Following are the historic fights between Demian Maia and the fighters like Matt Brown, Dong Hyun Kim, and Tyron Woodley.

This historic fight was nerve-wracking for both of the fighters. Highly competitive offensive and defensive strategies marked the fight memorable and a feast for the eyes. Demian nabbed Brown after the fight started and Brown's defensive techniques were troublesome for Demian. He tried to control Matt from the back but failed to get success till the third round. Matt tried to knock out Maia, but the grappler slided his arms under the opponent's throat and forced him into submission.

“He was trained to protect his neck; he did a good job,” Maia said. “I will improve that. Now, I hope my next fight is for the belt.”

Kim is a world-class Judo master. It was expected that both the fighters are going to give each other a tough time. But all of sudden the whole scenario changed when within a minute aggressive Demian trickly decided to go for a takedown. The moment Kim hit the ground, Demian quickly mounted him to win the fight.

Kim suffered a rib injury in this fight and Demian Maia was greatly regarded for instantly releasing Kim upon realizing it.

This historic fight brought victory for Tyron but the audience felt little irony in the result.

"It doesn't bother me at all," Woodley shares, "I was in there with a jiu-jitsu specialist. I'm just excited to fight a freestyle fighter, someone I can use all my skills against."

Woodley was successful enough to defend takedown attempts from Maia. In the first round punched in the right eye of Demian and then in the second round Maia was dropped. Third round was blasted with punches on Maia’s nose.

"I had to be patient with my shots," Woodley said. "He's stronger than I expected. He hit me with a couple left hands, which surprised me. I'm the best in the world, man."

UFC president Dana White shared about the fight, “ It was just Horrible.”

There are only a few Demian Maia-affiliated Jiu-Jitsu academies among which Miami Academy in Florida and in Portugal are worth mentioning.

Demian has created instructional series which is regarded as the best source to learn and practice Jiu-Jitsu. It is an equally valuable source for beginners and advanced students.

• 2006

• Fight of the Night
• Performance of the Night
• Submission of the Night

Demian Maia received his first black belt from Fabio Gurgel just after four years and seven months of Jiu-Jitsu training. In 2000, he was awarded the Brown belt at the BJJ World Championships. Then in 2001, Demian stood second and was awarded with Brown Belt Medio-Pesado at the BJJ World Championships.

Under UFC, Demian won Fight of the Night Award one time, then the Performance of the Night Award twice and four times the Submission of the Night award.

In 2001, a number of awards were granted to Demian Maia for knocking out Raul Sosa in 48 seconds. In 2007 he won the Submission of the Night awards three times. In the first round, he defeated Ryan Jensen with a Rear Naked Choke, in the second round to Ed Herman via submission, and in the third round to black belt Jason McDonald again by a Rear Naked Choke. In 2009, fight with Chael Sonnen was a historic one. Demian was considered a best functional and strategic grappler due to his unusual style.

3 Minutes of Demian Maia the Murderous Strangler Strangling Some of the Best Fighters in the UFC

Demian Maia vs Belal Muhammad - FULL FIGHT

Demian Maia vs Ben Askren - FULL FIGHT

Photo Credit: @demianmaia @demianmaia