Demian Maia talks Robbie Lawler offer, title-shot hopes and desired Anderson Silva rematch

SAO PAULO – Welterweight contender Demian Maia wasn’t in the octagon when UFC 205’s co-headliner was, rather confusingly, declared a majority draw.

Still, he may very well have been the fighter who got the worst end of the deal.

As a logical candidate for a welterweight-challenger spot, Maia was OK with taking on either of the night’s winners – whether that was champ Tyron Woodley or Stephen Thompson. But, what he didn’t expect, or at least found highly unlikely, was that the dramatic scrap would end with “immediate rematch” written all over it.

In fact, as he watched it cageside, it took him a while to even process he’d most likely once again be made to wait.

“When you’re watching the fight cageside, you’re not too rational,” Maia said. “The fourth round was really exciting. Both went to a war, and it was crazy. But the first three rounds and the last round were not so exciting, so I thought the UFC was not going to do the rematch.

“But Eduardo (Alonso), my manager, he was by my side, and he said ‘They’ll maybe do it,’ because he knows how their minds work. And he was right. They were talking right after the fight about a rematch.”

With the prospect of the title shot he’s long been pushing for slipping away once again, Maia (24-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) said he was given options by UFC President Dana White: He could either sit and wait for the outcome of the likely Woodley (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) vs. Thompson (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) rematch, or take another fight.

Maia had barely landed back in his hometown of Sao Paulo, however, when UFC officials offered him an opponent: former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler (27-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC), who hasn’t fought since a title loss to Woodley at UFC 201.

Maia didn’t say yes, but didn’t say no either. While the rematch remains unofficial, he doesn’t want to commit to any names.

“First, they need to do the rematch,” Maia said. “Let’s see if they will do the rematch or not. If they really want to do the rematch, then we can think about another fight. But if I did fight again, it would be great to fight in the same card as ‘Wonderboy’ (Thompson) and Woodley. Because maybe if somebody gets hurt I can jump in, or even if nobody gets hurt, we are in the same cycle.

“I didn’t lose my confidence that I can be the next. I’m a fighter, and I never give up. Let’s see if they really will do the rematch, and when they book the rematch, then we’ll think about the next step.“

In case his ideal scenario – the title shot, obviously – doesn’t pan out, Maia will think about his options. But, other than Lawler, he already has a few names in mind. One of them is Donald Cerrone (31-7 MMA, 18-4 UFC), who was interested in the fight but is now scheduled to face Matt Brown at UFC 206.

The other is none other than former middleweight champion Anderson Silva (33-7 MMA, 16-3 UFC), whom Maia fought (and lost to) in a controversial 2010 title affair  – two years before Maia dropped to the 170-pound division, where he’s now on an impressive six-fight run.

Currently ranked No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, Maia has fought 16 times and won 12 fights since. Silva went on to win his following five, but he hasn’t had an official UFC triumph since 2012, with four losses and one no-contest due to a failed doping exam.

“Anderson in a catchweight would be interesting because I think it’s a fight people would like to see,” Maia said. “That was the fight I remember the most in my life. It was very important for me. After that fight, I changed as a fighter. And a catchweight would be good because even if I lose I don’t think it will interfere too much with my welterweight division.

“Cerrone asked to fight me, and if he thinks he can beat me, let’s do it. Let’s do it (but) not now. Let’s do it if they don’t book my fight for the title.”

One name that Maia left out of his hit list was former welterweight champ’s Georges St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC), who remains a question mark after declaring himself a free agent. St-Pierre had brought up Maia’s name, but the Brazilian fighter thinks the former champ would have other targets in mind – such as middleweight champ Michel Bisping or two-division titleholder Conor McGregor.

And speaking of McGregor – Maia doesn’t seem too worried with the perspective of the Irish champ making a run for the 170-pound title too. In spite of the fact that both of McGregor’s fights with Nate Diaz were taken at welterweight – and that he and Woodley have had their run-ins –  Maia doesn’t see him making the move.

“I don’t think he’s going (to move up),” Maia said. “I don’t think it’s very smart to do that. The guys are way too big for him. He’s a great fighter. He proved that in the last fight. His distance control reminded me of Anderson in his prime. But I think he wouldn’t go up. He has more interesting fights to do.

“He’s asking about (Floyd) Mayweather in boxing. He could do a rematch with Nate. He can defend his title against (Jose) Aldo (interim featherweight champ) or Khabib (Nurmagumedov, lightweight contender), so I don’t think he will go up.”

As unlucky as Maia seems to have been lately, he still tries to take a glass-half-full approach to things.

“Let’s see what’s going to happen,” Maia said. “The good thing about that is that everybody is talking about our division now. Everybody’s talking about a rematch. Everybody’s talking about Demian being next and what’s going to happen, so I think this division right now is the most competitive division.”

For more on Maia’s thoughts about his UFC future, check out the video above.

And for on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.