Demian Maia responds to criticism from Tyron Woodley

Recently, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been rather frustrated with his inability to find a challenger for his welterweight belt. The welterweight champion stated earlier this month that while he would like to fight in July, nobody is prepared to step up and challenge him for the belt.

Woodley took specific aim at UFC welterweight contender Demian Maia, who opted to sign to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211 next weekend rather than sit and wait for a title shot against the winner of Woodley vs. Thompson II.

Now, Maia has responded to the welterweight champion, saying:

“He doesn’t know why I made this decision, he doesn’t know the kind of situation that went down,” Maia told MMAjunkie ahead of next Saturday’s’s pay-per-view scrap at American Airlines Center in Dallas. “So, it was an unfortunate comment. And, also, I see that pattern in him – he never knows if he wants to be a nice guy, or an arrogant guy, or a guy who promotes himself, or a good guy. He can’t go in one direction.

“I think this lack of coherence only hurts him. I think that’s why he’s a champion who doesn’t have a lot of charisma.”

The fight between Demian Maia and Masvidal is believes to be a fight to produce the next welterweight #1 contender, something Maia agrees with:

“I think it is (the No. 1 contender fight), at least for me,” Maia said. “I think if I win, with seven wins in a row, (I deserve a shot). But I don’t know, because everything has been so crazy – we have no way of knowing.

“I want to see what happens, because I have this fight in front of me. I am no longer falling into this trap of losing focus on the fight. My title fight is next Saturday – that’s the most important thing. The rest is just consequence.”

on 5/6/2017.