Report: Demian Maia Stepping In At UFC Fight Night Chile

Santiago Ponzinibbio suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw from UFC Fight Night Chile, but Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting is reporting that Demian Maia has agreed to step in on short notice to fight Kamaru Usman in the main event.

Usman (12-1-0) is currently undefeated under the UFC banner, with that last victory coming over Emil Meek at UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh. Usman has seen five of his seven bouts in the UFC go the distance, with the fighter picking up wins in each of those encounters. Usman has suffered a single defeat as a professional MMA fighters and that came to Jose Caceres by submission at Championship Fighting Alliance 11 in May of 2013. 

Maia (25-8-0) enters the contest while riding a two fight losing streak, dropping bouts to the duo of Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington. Maia is 2-2-0 in main event fights during his UFC tenure, with those wins coming over Ryan LaFlare and Carlos Condit. Maia hasn’t picked up a win in almost a year, with that last victory coming over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211.

UFC Fight Night Chile takes place on Saturday, May 19 from the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile with Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.