Georges St-Pierre to grapple Demian Maia in UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6
UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre is back on the promotion’s stage later this year in UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6.
On the grappling card, the former two-weight champion will face off against former welterweight challenger Demian Maia. Maia was known for his grappling prowess during his fighting career.
St-Pierre announced his return to competition earlier this month and now his opponent is official, as Maia announced on social media.
“Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you,” Maia wrote on Twitter. “Grappling @GeorgesStPierre will be a huge challenge & great motivation. You GSP are one of the greatest competitors ever, whom I respect a lot. I’m game! Looking forward to competing at @ufc invitational.”
Maia last fought in the UFC octagon in June of 2021, a loss to welterweight title contender Belal Muhammad. That was the last fight on Maia’s contract and was not re-signed by the company.
Maia was 28-11 in his MMA career and fought and lost a title fight against former champion Tyron Woodley in July 2017.
St-Pierre was 26-2 in his MMA career and last fought November 4, 2017 against Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship. “Rush” won via rear naked choke in the third round to claim his second belt after four years away from the octagon.
St-Pierre suffered from ulcerative colitis and eventually vacated the belt as he did not want to hold the division up. He never returned to MMA competition due to his condition despite announcing he fully recovered in 2018.
St-Pierre is considered one of, if not the greatest mixed-martial artist of all-time due to his mastery, or near-mastery of many disciplines in the octagon. He averaged the only two losses of his career (Matt Huges and Matt Serra) in rematches during his UFC tenure.
St-Pierre defended the welterweight belt (170 pounds) nine consecutive times once he won the title back in 2008. He originally defeated Hughes in a rematch in November 2006 for the title but lost to Serra in April of 2007.
St-Pierre worked his way back and won the interim belt over Hughes in December 2007, winning the trilogy and eventually won a rematch over Serra to unify the belt in April 2008.
That’s when St-Pierre went on his streak of title defenses, initially retired and vacated the belt and then returned to beat Bisping for the middleweight (185 pounds) title.
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 is scheduled for December on the promotion’s streaming service. St-Pierre and Maia did not fight in the octagon, but this should be quite the grappling match as “Rush” trains under world renowned jiu jitsu coach John Danaher.