Demian Maia made a case that he should be next in line for a welterweight title shot after submitting Matt Brown in the featured preliminary bout at UFC 198 Saturday.
Brown was disrespectful to Brazilian fans during Friday’s weigh-ins, flipping them the bird, so the boisterous crowd of 45,000 at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba was elated when Brown tapped to a Maia rear-naked choke in the dying seconds of the final round.
Maia put on a grappling clinic from the onset, taking Brown down at will and sticking to his back for the majority of the fight. Brown had defended Maia’s submission attempts well but the Brazilian was finally able to cinch his forearm under Brown’s neck in the final minute. As Brown’s eyes rolled and his face began to change colour he made the choice to tap and when he did Maia immediately released the choke.
“I’m ready to fight for the title,” Maia proclaimed following his victory.
Champion Robbie Lawler is expected to defend his 170-pound belt against Tyron Woodley at UFC 201 on July 30 in Atlanta.
UFC 198 was the just fourth stadium event the MMA promotion has held in its history.
In a battle of top-15 light-heavyweights, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira stopped Patrick Cummins with a barrage of punches late in the first round to pick up a standing TKO victory. Nogueira was able to defend Cummins’s early takedown attempts and the beginning of the end came when Nogueira landed a right hook that staggered Cummins.
UFC Europe on Twitter
Lil Nog lands BIG!! #UFC198http://snpy.tv/1scxXzA
Nogueira snapped a two-fight losing streak and picked up his first win since 2013 when he defeated former light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Cummins has been knocked out in three of his last four fights.
Patrick Cummins on Twitter
Just wasn’t my night tonight. Back to the drawing board. Congrats @Minotauromma pleasure to share the octagon with you.
Also on the prelims, Rising lightweights Francisco Trinaldo and Yancy Medeiros put on a three-round thriller in which Trinaldo walked away with the unanimous decision. Trinaldo, who extended his winning streak to six in a row, out-landed Medeiros 143-71 in total strikes with 68 of them occurring in the final round. The fact this fight went the distance was somewhat remarkable considering the damage Medeiros took throughout the bout.
Dana White on Twitter
Medeiros is not HUMAN!!! Much respect to both guys.
Thiago Santos made quick work of Nate Marquardt, knocking out the veteran in the first round of their middleweight contest. Santos called out fellow middleweight contenders Michael Bisping, Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker following his win. Santos has won four in a row, while Marquardt has lost six of his last eight.
TUF Brazil 1 finalist Sergio Moraes and UFC newcomer Luan Chagas fought to a rare split draw in the only Brazilian vs. Brazilian bout on the card. It looked as though Chagas was going to end things early when he landed this head kick in the first round but Moraes survived.
UFC Europe on Twitter
HUGE head kick by @Chagasmma at #UFC198!!http://snpy.tv/27nmQEi
John Lineker remained unbeaten in the UFC’s bantamweight division by putting on an impressive performance against the highly touted Rob Font. Renato Moicano kicked off the card with a split decision win over Zubaira Tukhugov.