Fresh off the heels of an impressive win over Carlos Condit that got "Performance of the Night" honors, Demian Maia says that he wants the sport of MMA to remain that: a sport and not a show.
Maia spoke to MMAJunkie Radio and said that fans need to understand what they're supposed to be watching is a sport and not a show, like WWE is, according to him.
?They need to read what sport they?re going too,? Maia said. ?I hope they know how to read. If they know how to read, they should read they are going to watch MMA and not something else. Not boxing, not kickboxing. Also, if they like the show, they can always go to WWE and watch those fights. If they?re a little bit smarter than that they can learn and become real fans.?
The 38-year-old said that other sports like football have fans that watch the sport to see who wins, not who plays the more exciting style. According to him, if the sport of MMA is to keep growing for the next century, it needs to move forward with that sporting mentality.
?To become a real sport, (MMA) needs to be more seen and held as a sport, not as a show,? Maia said. ?We want to see MMA grow and to keep growing for the next 100 years and be a big sport like basketball, football, soccer, we need to hold it as a sport. The goal of a sport is one goal, it is to win. You watch a tennis match because you want to see who is going to win, who is the winner, not who plays this style or this style. If you watch NFL (the team in the finals is not) the guy who plays a more interesting game or the game you like most. You?re going to put the winners. And that?s why those are sports and they are growing sports. If you like the sport, you like the sport.?
Maia right now is on a 6-fight win streak and possibly in line for a title shot in the foreseeable future.