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Demian Maia

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Demian Maia is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, who reached the top of both sports’ rankings, particularly in grappling where Maia earned titles such as World Cup (2002, 2003), ADCC (2007). In MMA Demian had title attempts in the UFC’s middleweight (April 2010) and welterweight (July 2017) divisions. Demian is also known for having one of UFC’s longest successful submission win streaks (5). In the context of jiu-jitsu history, Maia was at the heart of the early 2000’s Alliance Academy‘s turmoil, a case that ended in the team splitting, giving birth to the Brasa, TT, and Master academies.

Demian Maia Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Demian Maia Baptista

Nickname: n/a

Lineage: M. Maeda > C. Gracie > H. Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Fabio Gurgel > Demian Maia

Main Achievements (BJJ/MMA/Grappling):

  • ADCC Champion (2007)
  • CBJJ Brazilian Team National Champion (2003)
  • IBJJF World Champion (2000 purple belt)
  • ADCC 2nd Place (2005)
  • CBJJO World Cup Champion (2002/2003*/2005)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute

Favorite Technique/Position: Triangle Choke

Weight Division:

  • BJJ – Médio (Middleweight) 82Kg-181Lbs
  • MMA – Middleweight & welterweight

Team/Association: Brasa Clube de Jiu Jitsu

Demian Maia Biography

Demian Maia was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the 6th of November 1977. His first contact with the Martial Arts world was through Judo at the tender age of 4, a sport that he practiced for 2 years. After an inactivity period, he started taking Karate and Kung-Fu classes by his own initiative. He was 12 and he trained in both these sports until he was 19, when he picked up BJJ. The decision to drop the more traditional martial arts (Karate and Kung Fu), came after he watched an MMA event in the town of Ibrabuera, Brazil, where all 3 of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu representatives easily won their respective fights without much effort.

He picked up BJJ at the same time he entered University to study Journalism, and his first Jiu-Jitsu academy was Fabio Araujo’s place (who was a Brown Belt at the time under Carlson Gracie). Demian decided to move away from this gym after making the decision to dedicate his time to BJJ and possibly becoming a professional athlete (even though he continued his studies in Journalism).

He sought Fabio Gurgel and his Alliance team academy in Sao Paulo’s Centre, with whom he stayed until graduating as Black Belt in a staggering 4 years and 7 months. Although this is an amazingly short period to reach black belt, Demian Maia was training BJJ 2 to 3 times per day and competing in all the main Tournaments (and winning), earning the World Title in the lower belts (purple and Brown) two years on a row. Before earning his Black belt, Demian Maia had his first MMA experience at the “Tormenta Del Ring” tournament in Venezuela (2001).

Demian was also at the centre of a revolution that almost caused Alliance team’s demise when in 2002 him and a few others decided to fight in CBJJO’s (Confederacao de Jiu Jitsu Olimpico) World Cup, just a few days prior to the World Championships (CBJJ) against Fabio Gurgel and Jacare Romero’s instructions. The reason these fighters fought in the Cup was because CBJJO offered a prize money, which the World Championships didn’t and Demian along with the others (Rodrigo Comprido, Leo Vieira, Terere and “Rico” Vieira) believed a fighter should get paid for his hard work.

After the refusal to accept Gurgel’s orders, the fighters were penalized and denied entrance at the IBJJF World Championships under the Alliance banner, also being barred from their gym for an undetermined time. With these new guidelines, the athletes decided to start their own team, then forming the Masters Academy (a tribute to their master, Romero Jacaré), a workgroup that would later phase out to the Brasa Clube de Jiu-Jitsu team.

Demian remained under Brasa until he decided to pick mixed martial arts as his main activity, a sport in which he gained tremendous notoriety. After going through a series of minor shows in Brazil and Finland, Maia joined the biggest MMA organization of all, the UFC where he had a fantastic run, winning several “Submission of the Night” bonus prizes.

Demian Maia Grappling Record

27 WINS
  • BY POINTS
    13 (48%)
  • BY ADVANTAGES
    2 (7%)
  • BY SUBMISSION
    9 (33%)
  • BY DECISION
    2 (7%)
  • BY PENALTIES
    1 (4%)
  • BY DQ
    0 (0%)

9 SUBMISSIONS WINS

#214eb8
Triangle
33
3
#86e620
Choke from back
22
2
#5AD3D1
Armbar
22
2
#d1212a
Omoplata
11
1
#fad11b
Katagatame
11
1
9
(100%) SUBMISSIONS
11 LOSSES
  • BY POINTS
    6 (55%)
  • BY ADVANTAGES
    2 (18%)
  • BY SUBMISSION
    1 (9%)
  • BY DECISION
    1 (9%)
  • BY PENALTIES
    1 (9%)
  • BY DQ
    0 (0%)

1 SUBMISSION LOSSES

#214eb8
Brabo choke
100
1
1
(100%) SUBMISSION

Demian Maia Fight History

ID Opponent W/L Method Competition Weight Stage Year
707Alexandre DantasAlexandre DantasLPointsBrasileiroABS4F2002
720Roger Graci.LPointsTeam NationalsO88KGF2002
741Roger GracieRoger GracieLPointsTeam NationalsO88KG4F2003
939Fabio NascimentoFabio NascimentoLPointsWorld Cup88KGSF2003
1195Ronaldo SouzaRonaldo SouzaLPts: 0x0, PenADCC88KGF2005
1301Braulio EstimaBraulio EstimaLPts: 0x0, AdvWorld Champ.88KGSF2005
1391Alexandre RibeiroAlexandre RibeiroLPts: 0x0, AdvPan AmericanABS4F2006
1470Roberto AbreuRoberto AbreuLPts: 4x0World Champ.ABS4F2006
1500Romulo BarralRomulo BarralLBrabo chokeBrasileiro88KGSF2006
1513Marcelo GarciaMarcelo GarciaLPts: 2x0BrasileiroABSF2006
1820Luiz TheodoroLReferee DecisionSuper ChallengeABS4F2007
746Leandro BorgoWPts: 5x0Team NationalsO88KGF2003
947Ricardo TozziWTriangleWorld CupABSR12003
949Fabio NascimentoFabio NascimentoWChoke from backWorld CupABS4F2003
950Fernando ParadedaFernando ParadedaWPointsWorld CupABSSF2003
951Gabriel NapãoWPointsWorld CupABSF2003
1187Marko HelenWPts: 3x0ADCC88KGR12005
1190David AvellanWPts: 3x0ADCC88KG4F2005
1192Saulo RibeiroSaulo RibeiroWPts: 0x0, PenADCC88KGSF2005
1254Paulo JacareWPts: 8x0World Cup88KGSF2005
1255Ronaldo SouzaRonaldo SouzaWAdvWorld Cup88KGF2005
1297Rodrigo PnheiroWPts: 4x4, AdvWorld Champ.88KGR12005
1298Antonio BorgesWChoke from backWorld Champ.88KG4F2005
1371Paulo GazzePaulo GazzeWTrianglePan American88KG4F2006
1372Romulo BarralRomulo BarralWPts: 4x2Pan American88KGSF2006
1373Givanildo SantanaGivanildo SantanaWPointsPan American88KGF2006
1383Rafael BarbosaRafael BarbosaWArmbarPan AmericanABSR12006
1464Rodolfo SilvaWPointsWorld Champ.ABSR12006
1509Romulo BarralRomulo BarralWReferee DecisionBrasileiroABS4F2006
1512Fernando PieroFernando PieroWOmoplataBrasileiroABSSF2006
1695Yushin OkamiWPointsADCC88KGR12007
1701Rafael LovatoRafael LovatoWPointsADCC88KG4F2007
1703Tarsis HumphreysTarsis HumphreysWPointsADCC88KGSF2007
1706Flavio AlmeidaFlavio AlmeidaWArmbarADCC88KGF2007
1813Bruno BastosBruno BastosWPts: 3x0Super ChallengeABSR12007
32100Alex OliveiraWTriangleBJJ StarsNASPF2022
33341Ben HendersonWReferee DecisionPolaris 20ABSSPF2022
37738Sangwook KimWKatagatameSpyder RTBBABSSPF2023

Demian Maia By Riccardo Baleia

Craig Jones Brand New Instructional

7 Comments

  • Juan says:

    I like demian all,but in 2001 he placed second in brown belt medio

  • Justin says:

    If he would have had better stand-up he could have been Middlewieght champ.

  • myself says:

    if he never tried to strike standing up he would be undefeated and champion

  • Chacorro louco says:

    Wow training and studying at the same time and recieved a black belt in bjj only in 4 year, that is awesome, i hope i could make a shot like he did in the ufc i also began judo at my late teens(17) and also at the same time i started college, i also want to train bjj but because there’s no bjj academy in my city so i cant. Theirs just a few succesfull athletes that begin training and college at the same time of em are demian maia

  • Tom says:

    You have him winning team nationals in 2002 but have him losing to Roger Gracie??

    • BJJ Heroes says:

      He placed 2nd in 02, I believe you mean 03. Team nationals do not work solely on individual results, so even though Maia lost to Roger, the team was formed by 6 other members and they managed to advanced.

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