Fortunes changed for five at UFC on FOX 21

There is little doubt that Demian Maia, after submitting Carlos Condit in just 1:52, is deserving of a welterweight championship shot.He’s had six wins in a row, and, as he pointed out a few times, he beat the guy who many feel was the deserving champion with the idea Condit deserved the win over Robbie Lawler in January. The problem for Maia is he’s not the only one deserving, and at almost 39 years old, his window of opportunity is starting to close.Maia (24-6) beating Condit (30-10) wouldn’t be classified as a shock. As soon as that match was announced, the feeling was clear. If it stayed standing, Condit would have a huge edge. If the fight went to the ground and stayed there, Maia was likely winning. But Maia winning that quickly against a fighter who hadn’t been submitted in a fight since 2006 made a real statement that Maia’s ground game is, already recognized as among the elite in the sport, if anything, has gotten even more effective. After winning, Maia said he thought that win should put him in front of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who Dana White had pegged for the next shot at champion Tyron Woodley. Maia also made it clear that he’s not looking at fighting until he gets that shot, preferring not to risk his position. On the surface, that makes sense. But there is a lot in play right now, from a champion who wants to face challengers with big drawing power, a category Maia doesn’t fit in, and questions regarding the guys who did fit into that category.The most logical title fight for all concerned would be Woodley vs. Georges St-Pierre on Dec. 10 in Toronto. That fight could be big enough to move the show out of the Air Canada Centre and go back to the Rogers Centre, the arena St-Pierre sold out with 55,724 fans at one time. There is no bigger fight in Canada than St-Pierre challenging for the title that he never lost in the cage. There is no possible bigger fight for the market, and no welterweight title fight that would come close to the interest level. St-Pierre has publicly said he’s up for the fight and has publicly targeted that date for a return. But where the no-brainer aspect of it ends is that UFC President Dana White has been insisting for months that St-Pierre is not going to fight again and all his talk is just public posturing. It’s hard to know whether White knows something, and is correct, White is making an educated guess based on how negotiations have gone, or there is some sort of a contractual chess match being played on both sides and this is just a strategic negotiations move. Unfortunately for Maia, who on Saturday tied Donald Cerrone and Matt Hughes for third place on the UFC’s all-time win list with 18 (St-Pierre and Michael Bisping both have 19), should St-Pierre return, Maia will be in for a long wait. Thompson (13-1) is likely going to be getting a shot at the title ahead of Maia, whether St-Pierre does or doesn’t enter into the equation. And depending on results of fights, whether it’s St-Pierre, Nick Diaz, Cerrone or Robbie Lawler, there are more popular fighters who may be getting their own impressive wins over the next year and shoot ahead of him. It’s the unfortunate aspect of a business where wins and losses are part of the equation, but profit margin is an even bigger part. Maia is a winning fighter with no history of drawing in a division filled with more marketable stars. The subject of controversial judging was also back on Saturday in Vancouver, B.C., in split decision wins by Jim Miller over Joe Lauzon and Kyle Bochniak over …

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