Demian Maia's UFC welterweight title shot finally has arrived. But just how hard was it to get here?
Channel: All of it
Date: 2017-07-28

Demian Maia's UFC welterweight title shot finally has arrived. But just how hard was it to get here?
In his well-documented saga toward a shot at the UFC’s welterweight title, Demian Maia’s resigned tone while addressing the decision to accept it despite less-than-ideal conditions is symptomatic.

“When we got the notice for the fight, five weeks before, I was kind of wondering (if I should take the fight),” Maia told reporters on Wednesday ahead of his UFC 214 pay-per-view co-headliner with champion Tyron Woodley. “But then we talked and said, ‘This could be the only chance we have; let’s take this chance.’”

While he did add an optimistic Maia-like addendum to cover how well he was ultimately able to manage the short preparation window for Woodley (17-3-1 MMA, 7-2-1 UFC), what Maia (25-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) said can be seen from a few different angles.

On one hand, these words might simply come from a reasonable 39-year-old fighter who understands there just aren’t that many days of fighting ahead of him. But, on the other, they seem to also come from a fighter who’s done just about all he could do to earn an opportunity he knew could still be taken away.

Considering just how much Maia struggled to even get to this point, who can really blame him?

In the volatile scenario that is a UFC title picture, words like “fair” are too heavy to throw around. Even if all you are judging is the most logical in-octagon aspect – the fights that are won – you’ll stumble onto arguments like: level (how many of the opponents were top guys?), timing (how many of them were at their peak at the time of the fight?) and manner (how did those fights end?