<
>

Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia added to UFC 214 as third title fight

The UFC has officially added a third title fight to its UFC 214 pay-per-view event on July 29 in Anaheim, California.

Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley announced Wednesday he will defend his belt against Demian Maia inside the Honda Center.

UFC 214 now features three championship fights. Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is set to face rival Jon Jones in the main event, and Cris "Cyborg" Justino will meet Tonya Evinger for the vacant female featherweight title.

Woodley (17-3-1) is looking to move on from back-to-back fights against Stephen Thompson. The first meeting was an action-packed affair but ended in a draw at UFC 205 in November. Woodley won an immediate rematch via decision in March in a slow fight that was widely criticized.

The St. Louis native is unbeaten in five fights dating back to June 2014. ESPN.com ranks Woodley the No. 7 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Maia (25-6) has cemented himself as the division's No. 1 contender, behind seven consecutive victories. The submission specialist has been utterly dominant during that stretch, posting wins over Jorge Masvidal, Carlos Condit, Matt Brown, Gunnar Nelson and Neil Magny.

Fighting out of Brazil, Maia went through a four-fight stretch in 2015 and 2016 during which he absorbed just 13 total strikes, according to Fightmetric.