Exciting news for MMA and grappling fans as Georges St. Pierre is all set to take on Demian Maia in a thrilling grappling match at UFCInvitational 6 on December 14th.
This highly anticipated event will mark the first-ever meeting between these two UFC veterans under any ruleset. Demian himself confirmed the matchup on Twitter, expressing his enthusiasm for the challenge.
Georges St. Pierre, renowned as a two-weight world champion in the UFC, has earned titles in both welterweight and middleweight divisions before his well-deserved retirement.
He boasts a black belt and has been a dedicated disciple of John Danaher, frequently training with elite grapplers like Gordon Ryan over the years. This upcoming bout will be his first competition since vacating the UFC middleweight championship after securing an RNC over Michael Bisping.
The announcement of GSP’s participation in UFC Invitational 6 was made earlier on July 6th, immediately following the conclusion of UFC Invitational 4.
On the other side of the mat, Demian Maia stands as a long-time UFC welterweight contender, an ADCC champion, and a fifth-degree black belt. Recognized as one of the finest grapplers to make a successful transition to MMA, Demian has left an indelible mark on the sport.
Throughout his UFC career, he showcased his exceptional submission skills, submitting a remarkable eleven opponents and vying for multiple world championships. Following his retirement from MMA, Maia has returned to his roots in submission grappling, recently taking on fellow UFC veteran Cowboy Oliveira in a grappling match up.
Georges previously hinted that UFC is looking at a huge name for his opponent and floated several.
“There are guys, veteran fighters that have a good grappling background. I’m talking about maybe the Diaz brothers…I’m a competitive guy, something like that maybe I think that fans will want to see. Could be someone that is active…[Kamaru] Usman, [Colby] Covington, someone like this.”
St Pierre also reportedly tried to talk Michael Bisping into competing on the same card. We can’t help but wonder if that would’ve been a much more exciting match up.
Maia is 45 years old, St Pierre is 42 years old currently.
