At 41-years-old, UFC veteran Demian Maia realizes he’s in the final years of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Maia has been competing in the UFC since 2007. During that time, Maia has competed for a UFC middleweight and welterweight championship. Albeit, both of those were unsuccessful challenges, Maia has proven to rise to the top of his respective divisions time after time again.
This weekend (Sat. February 2, 2019), the jiu-jitsu ace will compete against Lyman Good at the UFC on ESPN+ 2 card in Brazil. Speaking to MMA Junkie recently, Maia was asked about possibly retiring soon. He revealed he has three fights left on his current UFC deal. Despite still have a lot of goals left for himself in MMA, Maia is realistic about his current position, on a three-fight losing streak.
However, he’ll finish out his UFC contract before making any big decisions on his future:
“I go fight by fight,” Maia said. “Of course when you’re winning, the title is much more vivid in your mind. First, I need to win this fight on Saturday. Maybe win one, two, and then start thinking again.
“We’ll see how it’s going to be this year. It will be natural. I will start to switch the mindset. Right now my focus is: I have three more fights on my contract, I want to win those fights. That’s it.”
Do you think Maia will retire after his UFC contract is up?
