Demian Maia To Face UFC welterweight Alex Oliveira In Grappling Contest

Demian Maia will be in action for the first time since parting his ways from the UFC but it will not be an MMA fight.

On Tuesday, BJJ Stars reported that the decorated submission artist will make his return to the mats in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 30. And the rumored opponent for Maia’s anticipated return will be ‘Cowboy’ Alex Oliveira.

Maia (28-11, 3 KO’s) ended his fighting run in the UFC after suffering back-to-back losses against Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad in 2021.

The 44-year-old MMA veteran was one of the instrumental figures in the UFC’s welterweight division, earning two title shots over the course of his career in the promotion.

Maia’s resume is filled with the wins over some notable MMA fighters with Chael Sonnen, Carlos Condit, Matt Brown, Ben Askren and Neil Magny topping that list.

In 2007, Maia won the 88kg division of the ADCC in Trenton, NJ and since then, the Sao Paulo-native hasn’t fought under jiu-jitsu or grappling rules.
In jiu-jitsu and no-gi competition, Maia has defeated opponents such as “Jacare” Souza, Gabriel Gonzaga, Rafael Lovato Jr. and Yushin Okami.

Oliveira (22-12, 12 KOs) is winless in his past four outings in the UFC, which includes submission losses to Randy Brown and Shavkat Rakhmonov. In his most recent appearance, the ‘Cowboy’ came short against Kevin Holland as he was finished by the American in the second round via ground and pound.

BJJ Stars 8 will also feature an eight-man middleweight grand prix tournament with Leandro Lo, Isaque Bahiense, Mica Galvao, Leonardo Lara, Pedro Machado, Roberto Jimenez, Lucas Hulk and Mauricio Oliveira battling it out for the ultimate prize.