The UFC’s pay-per-view events have largely disappointed thus far in 2017 but it’s tough to criticize how UFC 214 is shaping up, especially after a third title fight was just added to the card.
Tyron Woodley will attempt to defend his welterweight title against Demain Maia in the co-main event of the July 29 card, the promotion announced Wednesday night.
UFC president Dana White suggested to MMAJunkie that Georges St-Pierre could end up fighting the winner of Woodley-Maia later in the year, though nothing is official at this time.
Woodley (17–3–1) is coming off a majority decision victory over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 209 in March. Prior to that fight, Woodley fought Thompson to a draw at UFC 205 in November.
Maia (25–6) is riding a seven-fight winning streak and presents a completely different challenge, stylistically, for Woodley. Where Thompson was strictly a striker, Maia is considered among the best grapplers in MMA history. His nine submission wins in the Octagon ties him with Nate Diaz and Charles Oliveira for second place on the UFC’s all-time list of most submission victories, just one shy of Royce Gracie’s record 10. Maia, 39, has picked up notable victories over Jorge Masvidal, Carlos Condit, Matt Brown and Gunnar Nelsonon during his current streak.
A light-heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones headlines the event, which also features Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino taking on Tonya Evinger for the vacant UFC women’s featherweight belt.
Here’s a look at the UFC 214 fight card to date:
— Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones
— Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia
— Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino vs. Tonya Evinger
— Aljamain Sterling vs. Renan Barao
— Jimi Manuwa vs. Volkan Oezdemir
— Ricardo Lamas vs. Jason Knight
— Sage Northcutt vs. John Makdessi
— Andre Fili vs. TBA
— Kailin Curran vs. Alexandra Albu
— Josh Burkman vs. Drew Dober
— Dimitri Smoliakov vs. Adam Wieczorek
— Eric Shelton vs. Jarred Brooks
— Brian Ortega vs. Renato Moicano
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