Ryan LaFlare said he wouldn't be scared to grapple with Demian Maia ahead of tonight's UFC Fight Night main event in Brazil. Well, he definitely grappled with Maia but was no match for the BJJ master himself.
Round 1 was all Maia as he had no trouble taking the New Yorker down and mounting him. But LaFlare did well to not panic and put himself in serious danger of being submitted. Maia lost mount and LaFlare was able to get to butterfly guard before the round ended. LaFlare stuffed the first takedown in the 2nd and land a right hook, but Maia grounded him the 2nd time, mounted him again, and this time went for an arm-triangle. LaFlare survived that and started better in round 3, opening things up with leg kicks and even countering a Maia takedown by pushing him to his back. This proved to be a costly mistake as Maia went for a calf-slicer and then as they both got to their feet he got LaFlare down again. Once again he had him mounted but couldn't get a submission.
The closest we came to a finish was in round 4 when the Brazilian had a deep arm-triangle attempt, but LaFlare did a good job not allowing Maia to pass into side control where he could've tightened the choke. LaFlare was definitely in trouble though before he was able to escape. Round 5 was a bit interesting as Maia was visibly exhausted and LaFlare, exhausted as well was able to outstrike him and land some good knees and kicks. A late takedown in the final minute of the fight prevented any miracle win for LaFlare, although referee John McCarthy deducted a point from Maia after previously warning him about stalling when LaFlare wanted him to return to the feet. The fight ended with Maia just about flopping to the ground in the closing seconds under no contact, which prompted the ultimately meaningless deduction.
Official result: Demian Maia def. Ryan LaFlare by unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)
Maia (20-6) picks up his 2nd win in a row, having beaten Alexander Yakovlev last year. LaFlare (11-1) sees his undefeated record come to an end in enemy territory.