Demian Maia nothing but gracious after being snubbed of title shot

At UFC 205, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and welterweight #1 contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson stepped into the Octagon for what turned out to be an epic welterweight showdown.

The fight was an extremely close one, with some scoring the fight for the champ, and others scoring the fight for challenger. After 5 hard-fought rounds, which included Woodley nearly finishing Thompson in the 4th round, the judges scored the fight a majority draw, with Woodley retaining his welterweight championship.

Immediately following the fight, UFC President Dana White spoke at the post-fight press conference, where he explained that the next logical step would be for the two men to have a rematch for the welterweight title given that the judges scored the fight a draw. With that being said, there was quite a bit of speculation as to whether or not the fight would be made official after it looked as though Woodley could either fight top ranked welterweight contender Demian Maia next, or UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

This week, it was revealed that Thompson and Woodley would be having a rematch for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 209 on March 4th. While many were expecting top ranked welterweight Demian Maia to be slightly upset over the booking, the MMA vet took to social media to react to the bout, being nothing but gracious:

It's official,so I wish you a great fight & trust the winner will give me the opportunity you both have been given. @TWooodley @WonderboyMMA pic.twitter.com/gaxsa5pK8f

— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) January 10, 2017

@demianmaia @WonderboyMMA You are a classy dude and look forward to sharing the Octagon with you. For what it's worth I thought we should have been fighting now.

— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) January 10, 2017

With Woodley vs. Thompson II now official for March, it could be quite some time until Maia steps into the Octagon with the winner of the scrap.