Demian Maia was supposed to return to Brazil earlier this year at UFC 163 against longtime UFC veteran Josh Koscheck, but now he will be facing off with an American black belt in Jake Shields. They will be fighting at UFC Fight Night 29 which is set for Ginasio Jose Correa arena which is in Barueri, Brazil. This will be an interesting fight as both fighters are fans of the ground game. Obviously, Maia is one of the best BJJ practitioners to transfer into MMA, and he holds 9 of his 18 wins by submission over big names like Chael Sonnen, Ed Herman, Rick Story, and Nate Quarry. Shields uses a more grinding style, but he still holds 10 of his 28 wins by submission.
Maia is well on his way to a title shot at 170 after three straight impressive wins. Shields says that he will get back to the top, but it will be a big statement if Maia can finish Shields which was something GSP could not even do.This will be the main event of the card, and the best part is that it is free on the new FOX Sports 1 channel. Of course, these are not the only two BJJ black belts on the card.
Up and comer Erick Silva who has trained with the legendary Nogueira brothers will take on Kim Dong-Hyun. TUF Brazil winner and BJJ black belt Rony Jason takes on veteran fighter Jeremy Stephens. Bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao continues to climb the title shot ladder with his Jiu Jitsu when he faces off with former division one wrestler TJ Dillashaw. Lastly, third degree black belt Rodrigo Damm looks to make it two straight in the Octagon when he faces off with the rebounding Hacran Dias.