Jennifer Maia

Overview

Twelve UFC fights, twelve trips to the scorecards, one submission. Jennifer Maia is 6-6 in the UFC, and 11 of those 12 fights went the distance, all of them to the final bell.

The Curitiba, Brazil native fights at women's flyweight and debuted in the UFC in July 2018. Her overall professional record across all promotions is 21-10-1, which includes fights outside the UFC. She is not a champion, and her UFC run is a story of close, grinding fights decided by the judges.

She is a fighter who is hard to hit and hard to take down, not one who creates finishes. The record shows it.

UFC Career

Maia opened with a unanimous decision loss to Liz Carmouche in July 2018. She answered with back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Alexis Davis and Roxanne Modafferi in 2019, which is her longest UFC win streak at two.

A loss to Katlyn Cerminara followed, then the one finish of her UFC career: a first-round submission of Joanne Wood at 4:29 in July 2020.

Her biggest test came at UFC 255, a five-round fight against Valentina Shevchenko, an elite opponent by our model's tiers. Maia lost a unanimous decision after the full five rounds. She rebounded with a decision win over Jessica Eye at UFC 264.

The next stretch was rougher. Maia dropped decisions to Cerminara in a rematch and to Manon Fiorot, both strong opponents. She then beat Maryna Moroz and Casey O'Neill by decision, the latter another strong opponent. A unanimous decision loss to Viviane Araujo in October 2023 is the most recent result, so she carries a one-fight losing streak into her next bout.

Six wins, six losses, and not one of the six losses came by stoppage.

Fighting Style

Maia is a volume striker who is hard to hit. She lands more strikes per minute than most in the UFC and defends well against them. The catch is that she also absorbs more than most and lands at a below-average accuracy, which fits a pattern of fights that stay competitive rather than get away from either side.

Her wrestling profile is lopsided. She rarely shoots for takedowns and attempts few submissions, but she is tough to take down. That makes the lone submission win over Wood an outlier in her UFC record, not a pattern.

The finish data backs it up. Five wins by decision and one first-round submission, with no knockouts. On the other side, all six losses went to the judges.

Notable Wins

• Joanne Wood — submission, round 1 (4:29), UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan (2020)
• Casey O'Neill — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 (2023)
• Alexis Davis — unanimous decision, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis (2019)

Quick Facts

• Division: Women's Flyweight
• UFC record: 6-6
• Professional record (all promotions): 21-10-1
• UFC debut: 2018
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 5'4" / 64"
• Born: Curitiba, Brazil