Maia: Not enough Brazilians at mw, shouldn't fight each other

source: sportv.globo.com

When Mark Muñoz got hurt earlier this week, Michael Bisping was selected to replace him vs. Chael Sonnen, with the winner getting a shot at champion Anderson Silva. Bisping had been scheduled to fight Demian Maia.

That left Maia without an opponent, just weeks before he was scheduled to fight. Although he will be facing Chris Weidman, the first offer mentioned by UFC President Dana White was Rousimar Palhares, who was coming off a quick win Saturday night at UFC 142 over Mike Massenzio.

The match would have provided a compelling BJJ vs BJJ fight, but Palhares turned it down.

Now Maia says he too did not want it.

"(A fight with Palhares ) was rumored," said Maia over the phone. "But I thought there wouldn't be any possibility (of it happening), because he just fought. It doesn't make sense for him to throw himself into another fight right now. "Toquinho" trained a few months for this fight. Just because (the Massenzio fight) was fast doesn't mean there was no wear and tear.

"But I don't even think about that. To be honest, the Brazilian fans are more concerned about seeing us fighting gringos (foreigners). There are few Brazilian fighters in the (middleweight) division and I think that, except for the title, since it's Anderson (Silva) who is the champion, the Brazilians should not face each other."

The UFC middleweight division currently has seven Brazilians on the roster in addition to Maia: Vitor Belfort, Ronny Markes, Rafael Sapo, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva and Rousimar Palhares.

Demian declined to complain about his initial opponent being one fight away from a title shot.

"It's not about justice or injustice," said Maia. "(Who gets a title shot) is not sport amateur ranking ... it is determined by the market. Of course, you have to win ... I hope that a victory over Weidman will give me the same leverage as if it were against Bisping. It was not my choice not to fight Bisping."

Read entire article... (original Portuguese)

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1/23/12 9:01 PM by CALI NATIVE

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

1/23/12 12:55 AM by VicJenny

I really didn't like the thread title, but I don't see anything wrong with what he said. The thread title is actually pretty misleading as he didn't say he didn't want to fight them, just that it is not where the money is in marketing it in Brazil."But I don't even think about that. To be honest, the Brazilian fans are more concerned about seeing us fighting gringos (foreigners). There are few Brazilian fighters in the (middleweight) division and I think that, except for the title, since it's Anderson (Silva) who is the champion, the Brazilians should not face each other."Some countries really get into the local vs foreigner fights, if that is what is selling in Brazil he has a good point.

1/22/12 10:27 PM by Headkick420

He didnt say this shit when he fought Ando for the title.Weird....

1/22/12 10:25 PM by Weatsidemma

Fuck white people? What race are you? Obviously you are the racist piece of shit. FUCK YOU FAGGIT!

1/22/12 8:12 PM by Weatsidemma

I lost all respect for Maia when he fought Anderson. He was laying down like a birch. Like Silva was gonna just walk on over and lay on him so he could wrestle.

1/22/12 8:08 PM by Motivated Penn

MMA is an INDIVIDUAL SPORT.I understand fighters won't fight childhood friends and their brothers. That's FINE.But when they won't fight teammates, it gets ridiculous. It's becoming almost a team sport at this point.And when countries are brought into it? Dear lord.I'm a big fan of Maia, but he's WAY off here.

1/22/12 7:35 PM by The Sultan

I hate it when teammates are asked to fight each other, but Brazilians should fight each other....that's absolute.

1/21/12 11:37 PM by ausgepicht

It's cool man. Post more. We need more people like you that have thick skin and can actually admit a mistake instead of spinning for 8 pages.

1/21/12 8:26 PM by R0CK0

no it's used derogatory

1/21/12 7:40 PM by circulation123

I didn't realize you guys call him "Paul Harris." I don't get on this site that much. However, although I have been a member since 2010, I have been watching MMA since 05.

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