By Mike Bohn
Demian Maia’s second venture in the welterweight division will come in his home country of Brazil as it appears the jiu-jitsu will fight Rick Story at UFC 153 on Oct. 5 in Rio de Janiero, Brail.
Story (14-5) announced the fight against Maia (16-4) on his official twitter account when he tweeted on Tuesday afternoon writing “I’m fighting Demian Maia in Rio!”
Maia made his welterweight debut at UFC 148 in July, defeating Dong Hyun Kim by TKO after Kim dislocated his rib as the result of a slam by Maia. While he did fight his first four professional bouts in Brazil, UFC 153 will mark the first time Maia competes in his home country in his 14-fight tenure with the organization.
Story rebounded from back-to-back losses to Charlies Brenneman and Martin Kampmann with a win against Brock Jardine last June. The 27-year-old has gone the distance in eight of his 10 UFC fights, including his last five consecutive bouts. Story has never been finished in his 19-fight career and will look to avoid the strong submission skills of Maia on Oct. 5.
It is unknown at this time if the Maia vs. Story bout will take place on the preliminary or main portion of the card.
The UFC 153 fight card currently looks like this:
Jose Aldo (21-1) vs. Erik Koch (13-1) (for the UFC Featherweight Championship)
Glover Teixeira (18-2) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-10)
Vitor Belfort (21-9) vs. Alan Belcher (18-6)
Erick Silva (14-2, 1 NC) vs. Jon Fitch (23-4-1, 1 NC)
Demian Maia (16-4) vs. Rick Story (14-5)
Christiano Marcello (12-4) vs. Reza Madadi (12-2)
Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira (5-2) vs. TBA
Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra (11-3) vs. Sam Sicilia (11-1)
Sergio Moraes (6-2) vs Renee Forte (7-1)
Diego Brandao (14-8) vs. Joey Gambino (9-1)
Thiago Silva (14-3, 1 NC) vs. Stanislav Nedkov (12-0)
