Filed under: Featured Videos , News , UFC , Videos RIO DE JANEIRO – Demian Maia has long been considered one of MMA’s most impressive grapplers. But on Saturday night, he enters the home of grappling legends, and he hopes to live up to their lofty reputations. Maia (19-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) meets Ryan LaFlare (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in the FOX Sports 1-broadcast headlining bout of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 62 event, which takes place at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanazinho Gymnasium. The 61-year-old building has long been home to high-level combat sports, with Maia citing grappling legends Helio Gracie, Carlson Gracie and Rickson Gracie as just a few of the names who have competed in the building. Maia knows you have to be a complete fighter in today’s MMA, but he would loving nothing more than to put on a grappling clinic. “Today we have a completely dfferent sport, so I’ve been training everything, but my roots always will be Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” Maia said.
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At home of jiu-jitsu legends, Demian Maia hopes to show his grappling roots – MMA Junkie