Roger Gracie and Demian Maia are two of the biggest legends in Jiu-Jitsu history, and the two men actually shared the mats together right at the beginning of their respective careers at the highest level. The year was 2002 and Maia had not been a black belt for long, while Roger was actually still a brown belt. Although fans of the sport had their eye on both of them as top prospects, neither man had reached the status that they’re now remembered for. Even if people had high hopes for them at the time, nobody could have predicted how far Roger and Maia would go.
Roger Gracie vs Demian Maia (2002)
Roger Gracie and Demian Maia had very different introductions to the sport, but they were at a similar level by the time they crossed paths. Roger was born into Jiu-Jitsu and like every member of the Gracie family before him, he was training as soon as he could walk. His father Mauricio Gomes was his main training influence throughout his childhood and teenage years, but he also had a ton of input from other relatives like Renzo Gracie. Maia on the other hand only discovered Jiu-Jitsu as a teenager, but he instantly devoted his life to the sport and was promoted to black belt in less than 5 years.
The Match
Demian Maia shot in for a single-leg as soon as the match began and although he was relentless in working for it, Roger Gracie was defending too well and he shut it down. He then off-balanced Maia and went for a single-leg of his own, with Maia sprawling to stop it. Maia tried to counter and had to accept bottom position to do so, conceding the two points as a result. Maia tried to wrestle up and he did get his hips off the mat briefly, but Roger kept on him and brought him back down quickly to start passing again.
Maia managed to expose Roger’s back briefly and tried to turn towards it, hitting a quick sweep when he tried to defend and levelling the score. Roger stood up with a single-leg and tried to finish the takedown, but Maia stayed upright and pushed him down to his back on the edge of the mat. They were reset on the feet and Maia almost got another takedown, but Roger sprang back up very quickly and broke grips to return to neutral. Maia pulled guard this time and he hit a sweep that almost exposed Roger’s back, but he had to settle for attacking turtle instead.
Roger kept tight to stay defensively sound, before capitalising on an opportunity to stand up and picking up a single-leg as he did. He finished the takedown to score his points but the pair went off the mats, and they were reset to standing. Maia shot in for a quick double-leg, scoring another two points to build up an impressive lead. Roger created distance and got to de la riva, but Maia broke his grips and almost passed before Roger could prevent it by standing up. Roger tried to chase another takedown but he drove Maia out of bounds and they got reset in the centre once again.
Maia pulled guard again but Roger was quick to act this time, passing and dropping straight into mount almost immediately. Maia eventually escaped to half-guard and full guard, but Roger was picking up the pace with his passing attempts and really putting him under pressure. Roger almost passed to both mount and side control before Maia eventually managed to lock him down in closed guard again. Maia was working hard from the bottom and even set up a triangle choke but Roger stood up and ripped himself free right as the time ran out. Roger was declared the winner on points in the end and he had earned his first major win, while Maia had given him one of the toughest matches of his career.
The Aftermath
Roger Gracie focused primarily on Jiu-Jitsu during his career, whereas Demian Maia used his elite grappling to reach the highest level of MMA instead. Gracie went on to win an incredible 10 IBJJF World Championship titles and made history as the first, and currently only, person to submit all 8 opponents on the way to becoming ADCC double champion. He did also have a pretty short-lived MMA career, retiring with an 8-2 professional record. Maia won an ADCC title of his own, but he spent almost 20 years taking on the best fighters in the world. He fought for the UFC world title in two different weight classes before eventually stepping away from the sport with a 28-11 record in 2021.
The full match between Roger Gracie and Demian Maia was uploaded to Maia’s official YouTube channel:
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