Submission specialists Demian Maia and Jorge Santiago will square off in a middleweight matchup at UFC 136 on October 8th in Houston, Texas. The bout was first reported by Brazilian news site iG.com.br today. Both fighters will look to rebound from losses in their most recent fights in the UFC.
Maia challenged unsuccessfully for the UFC Middleweight Championship last April, but earned a pair of decision wins before the end of the year. He was upset by Mark Munoz last month, however, and will now face off with former Sengoku champ Santiago, who lost in his May return to the UFC.
Maia (14-3-0) won his first six fights before making his Octagon debut at UFC 77 in late 2007. He went on to choke out his first five UFC opponents, including future title challenger Chael Sonnen, before suffering a 21-second knockout loss to Nate Marquardt. Maia rebounded with a win over Dan Miller to earn a shot against divisional ace Anderson “The Spider” Silva, but lost a one-sided decision in a fight that was criticised by fans and media alike. He has won two of three fights since, but the close decision loss to Munoz was a significant setback for the jiu-jitsu standout.
Santiago (23-9-0) won 13 of 15 fights during a career-best stretch from November 2005 until late 2009, with the lone defeats coming in UFC bouts against Chris Leben and Alan Belcher. Along the way, he captured a one-night Strikeforce title and became Sengoku Middleweight Champion. After a non-title loss to Mamed Khalidov in Sengoku, Santiago avenged the defeat and stopped Kazuo Misaki for the second time in a Fight of the Year candidate last August. His UFC return in May did not go as planned, however, as he was knocked out by Brian Stann at UFC 130.
With both fighters needing a big win in order to get back into contendership, the bout between Maia and Santiago is a pivotal one in the competitive middleweight division. Santiago is just 1-3 in UFC bouts and a fourth Octagon loss could potentially spell the end for his second run in the promotion.
UFC 136 is targeted for October 8th at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event is expected to be headlined by a middleweight bout between Chael Sonnen and “All American” Brian Stann.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)