UFC welterweight contender Demian Maia came out uncharacteristically aggressive against Colby Covington last night and it definitely may have cost him. Maia decided to come forward, stand in the pocket and trade with Covington from the opening bell and was exhausted very early into the fight.
Although he landed a lot of hard strikes and busted up Covington’s eye, Maia ended up being battered in the third round as he dove for takedowns repeatedly. In the end, he lost a fairly lopsided unanimous decision to Colby in front of the disappointed Sao Paulo crowd.
Here’s what he had to say about his UFC Fight Night 119 performance.
“I want to thank the support and the crowd all in one more step in this way. The great lesson of sport is know to compete always brings lessons, and we have to be thankful in victory and in defeat for learning. I did my best, I made some mistakes and moved me a bit which may have hindered the implementation of my strategy but that doesn’t take away the merit of my opponent, who earned the victory, and leave with our heads held high knowing that I have fulfilled my role as best as I could, and move on to the next step of the journey. Thank you all!”
Check out the series of Tweets Maia sent out to the fans earlier.
Quero agradecer o apoio e a torcida de todos, em mais uma etapa nesse meu caminho.
(Continua na sequência de postagens) pic.twitter.com/uKnk4yDMVe
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) October 29, 2017
A grande lição do esporte é saber que competir traz sempre lições,e temos que ser gratos na vitória e na derrota pelo aprendizado.(Continua)
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) October 29, 2017
Maia was proud of what he did in the fight and even applauded Colby Covington’s performance.
Fiz o meu melhor, cometi alguns erros e me emocionei um pouco, o que pode ter atrapalhado a execução da minha estratégia, …(continua)
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) October 29, 2017
…mas isso não tira o mérito do meu adversário, que mereceu a vitória, e saio de cabeça erguida (continua)…
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) October 29, 2017
…sabendo que cumpri o meu papel da melhor maneira que pude, e sigo em frente rumo ao próximo passo da jornada. Obrigado a todos!
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) October 29, 2017
Sound off in the comments on what you think is next for jiu jitsu world champion in the UFC.