MMA Reminder: Maia Vs Condit Will Headline UFC on Fox

Desc: Demian Maia versus Carlos Condit will headline UFC on Fox 21 on August 27th at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, a clash of two former welterweight champs.
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It was announced about a month ago, but it may have gotten lost in the UFC 202 shuffle: Demian Maia versus Carlos Condit will headline UFC on Fox 21 on August 27th at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The match between a former WEC Welterweight Champion and former interim UFC Welterweight Champion and a former UFC Middleweight Championship challenger, was originally scheduled for UFC 202, but was deemed worthy of being a main event in and of itself, and got pushed back a week. Condit appears as the favorite, according to MMA betting odds, but Maia should not be ruled out offhand.

Condit, known as The Natural Born Killer or The Albuquerque Bandit, is 30-9-0 in MMA contests. Half his victories have come via KO, and most of the other half has been submissions. In the UFC, he’s 7-5-0. Condit’s most recent match was a loss via split decision to Robbie Lawler at UFC 195 on January 2nd, 2016. Condit landed 198 out of 504 strikes, and was awarded the fight by 15 0f 20 media outlets. Controversially, though, the decision – and the UFC Welterweight Championship – was given to Lawler Before that, he defeated Thiago Alvez by TKO at UFC Fight Night 67 on May 30th, 2015.

The Brazilian Maia, on the other hand, has a 23-6-0 MMA record. Notably, Maia has won his last five straight UFC fights, which is something MMA betting fans out there might want to take into account. Most recently, Maia submitted Matt Brown with a rear naked choke at UFC 198 on May 14th, 2016. The Brazilian’s last losing effort was a unanimous decision defeat to Rory MacDonald at UFC 170 on February 22nd, 2014 – which means he has not lost a bout in almost two years and a half.

The main event at UFC on Fox 20 will provide MMA betting fans with an interesting and intriguing mash of styles. Both have BBJ belts, but Condit is more of a striker while Maia is more of a grappler. They both talk thrash, too. Condit has said that his next opponent is “tough” but “plays it safe” and that is why he does not get enough respect from his fellow welterweights. In response to that, Maia told the MMA Hour that he made his last fight look easy, and that “when you don’t give a chance to your opponent, that’s not playing it safe, that’s a gameplan.”

UFC on Fox: Maia vs. Condit will feature a slew of similarly exciting match-ups, including Anthony Pettis vs. Charles Oliveira, Paige Van Zant vs. Bec Rawlings, Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon, Sam Alvey vs. Kevin Casey, Chad Laprise vs. Thibault Gouti, Enrique Barzola vs. Kyle Bochniak, Shane Campbell vs. Felipe Silva, Josh Emmett vs. Jeremy Kennedy, Garreth McLellan vs. Alessio Di Chirico, and Ryan Janes vs. Adam Hunter. Coincidentally, the preliminary bout pitting Marlon Vera against Ning Guangyou was moved to this card as well, following the latter’s acquittal of any wrongdoing concerning the ingestion of a banned substance.