A Bit of Good News: Matt Brown and Demian Maia are Going to Fight

On Sunday, Cain Velasquez announced his withdrawal from his UFC 196 title fight with Fabricio Werdum, only to be replaced by Stipe Miocic in the subsequent hours. The very next day, Werdum withdrew from UFC 196 with an injury of his own, leaving Miocic without an opponent, and the quickly-approaching card without a main event.

Unsurprisingly, these rapid-fire developments thrust the MMA world into a frenzy, as news sources struggled to keep up with the chaos, and gutted fans fought to contain their disappointment. So distracting was this heavyweight mess that all other news was blown aside. Interviews were released and matchups were announced, and yet our collective focus was glued to the overnight decimation of a looming pay-per-view.

Now that the dust has had a chance to settle, however, let's backtrack and give one of yesterday's lesser announcements the attention it deserves. You may have missed it in the midst of the Velasquez-Werdum madness, but Matt Brown (20-13) and Demian Maia (22-6) are going to fight each other.

This compelling welterweight showdown, which was announced by UFC senior vice president Giovani Decker, is set to occur in Brazil on May 14, though the exact location of the bout is not yet known. It will join a Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Vitor Belfort middleweight bout on an evening that is starting to look like a quality offering to the fight fans of Brazil and those tuning in from around the world.

Of course, this Maia vs. Brown booking is far from your run of the mill welterweight bout. It's a showdown between two fighters who could not be more different.

In Maia, for example, we have the most proficient Brazilian jiu jitsu player in the welterweight division—arguably in the UFC as a whole. A long-time contender at both welterweight and middleweight, he has 10 submissions among his 22 victories, and has dominated the likes of Ed Herman, Chael Sonnen, Rick Story, Jon Fitch, Ryan LaFlare, Neil Magny, and most recently, Gunnar Nelson. Then there's Brown. Despite a shaky start to his career, he has emerged over the last few years as one of the most fearsome competitors in the division, beating the brakes off foes like Mike Swick, Jordan Mein, Erick Silva, and Tim Means with a blizzard of elbows, knees, and punches.

What makes this fight truly interesting, however, is the way that Maia and Brown's styles match up. If Brown has ever revealed a weakness it has been against powerful grapplers—to remind, it wasn't all that long ago that we saw him rag-dolled by Johny Hendricks. Of course, Maia and Hendricks are entirely different breeds of grapplers, but like Hendricks, Maia is formidable enough on the mat to give Brown fits.

On the flip side, it's hard to imagine Maia doing very well with Brown on the feet. The intention here is not so much to emphasize Maia's striking deficit—he has gotten better in this department—but rather to emphasize that any fighter, no matter how sound on the feet, is in danger if they stand with Matt Brown for too long. This is even truer in the case of Maia who, though improved in his striking, is still no expert. If the grappling whiz fails to get Brown to the ground, there's a good chance he'll find himself swallowing elbows with his back to the cage.

This matchup gets even more interesting when you take a look back at both fighter's recent opponents. Maia has spent the last few years tangling with fellow grapplers like Jake Shields, Ryan LaFlare, and Gunnar Nelson, and more technical strikers like Rory MacDonald and Neil Magny. Brown, meanwhile, has spent the last few years of his career tangling with fellow scrappers like Tim Means and Robbie Lawler, and wrestlers like Mike Pyle and Johny Hendricks. Nowhere on Maia's recent resume will you find an opponent as ferocious as Brown, and nowhere in Brown's recent run will you find a submission specialist as crafty and experienced as Maia. These two welterweights, then, are likely to give one another some very new looks. And here's where things get even better.

While Carlos Condit and Tyron Woodley seem to stand out as the most logical choices for the next shot at Robbie Lawler's welterweight throne, it's hard to say who might get the next crack beyond them. Even though Stephen Thompson and Johny Hendricks are scheduled for a contender clash on February 6, its not outside the realm of possibility that the winner of Maia and Brown's showdown might outshine the winner of that bout and jump ahead of a few spots in the welterweight title race. Yes, the winner of Maia and Brown's battle in Brazil might just produce the next welterweight title challenger.

In the wake of the madness surrounding UFC 196's main event, the announcement of Brown vs. Maia was an easy thing to miss. Even if you caught the headline, you might have been too distracted by the drama to really appreciate just how good this booking is. Of course, there is no ignoring the gargantuan bummer that is the loss of UFC 196's main event, but alas there is some good news to combat the bad: the welterweight division just got one hell of a fight.