It started pretty and ended ugly, but Demian Maia got the job done in a unanimous decision victory over Ryan LaFlare in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Rio de Janeiro Saturday.
The first four rounds were a beautiful display of Maia’s world-class jiu-jitsu. He took LaFlare down at will, controlled him on the ground, passed his guard and attempted several submissions. The last round, however, saw Maia completely gas out and hold on for dear life as LaFlare tried desperately to mount a comeback and earn a finish. Maia even had a point deducted for lack of activity in the dying seconds. He ended up winning 48-46 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Maia (20-6) is now 5-2 since dropping to the welterweight division in 2012, while LaFlare (11-1) suffered the first loss of his career.
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In the co-main event, Josh Koscheck had his losing streak extended to five straight as he was tapped by an Erick Silva guillotine choke in the first round just three weeks after he was finished with a north-south choke from Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184.
UFC president Dana White said he wants to have a chat with the one-time welterweight title challenger in the near future to try to push him in the direction of retirement like he did with Chuck Liddell in 2010.
Meanwhile, Silva (18-5, 1 NC) is on the first two-fight win streak of his UFC career.
Also on the main card, Brazilians Leonardo Santos, Amanda Nunes, Gilbert Burns and Godofredo Castro picked up impressive stoppage wins.
Here are the complete results:
MAIN CARD
— Demian Maia def. Ryan LaFlare by unanimous decision
— Erick Silva def. Josh Koscheck by submission (guillotine choke)
— Leonardo Santos def. Tony Martin by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Amanda Nunes def. Shayna Baszler by TKO
— Gilbert Burns def. Alex Oliveira by submission (armbar)
— Godofredo Castro def. Andre Fili by submission (flying triangle choke)
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Francisco Trinaldo def. Akbarh Arreola by unanimous decision
— Kevin Souza def. Katsunori Kikuno by KO
— Leandro Silva def. Drew Dober by submission (guillotine choke)
— Leonardo Mafra def. Cain Carrizosa by unanimous decision
— Christos Giagos def. Jorge de Oliveira by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Fredy Serrano def. Bentley Syler by KO