Standing between the previously-completed UFC 118 action and the Randy Couture-James Toney and Frankie Edgar-BJ Penn fights was a battle between Demian Maia and Mario Miranda.
Highly-regarded Demian Maia was, in some ways, humiliated in his last fight–a title fight against Anderson Silva–so this fight meant an opportunity at redemption. Interestingly, his opponent worked with Anderson Silva to prepare for this battle.
Who won the final fight before the co-main-events?
Demian Maia b. Mario Miranda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Story of the fight: The fight was simple and played out fairly similarly in all three rounds. Demian Maia would take Miranda down, advance to a dominant position, and then try to identify submission attempts. Maia had a tendency to overcommit on submission attempts, which would allow Miranda to escape, but Maia was too intelligent, relaxed and controlling in this fight to expose himself to any serious harm. He easily won a decision.
