Maia Forecasts One Last Fight
UFC welterweight Demian Maia’s illustrious career is approaching its climax.
Maia suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Gilbert Burns in the co-main event of UFC Brasilia last night. Although the stoppage was debatable, it put a halt to the former title challenger’s three-fight winning streak.
At 42, it is unlikely that Maia will challenge for the title again. And having hinted at retirement in the past with his contract running out, the Brazilian confirmed he will probably retire after one last fight.
“It’s probably going to be my last one,” Maia told reporters after the fight. “I’m in this sport for such a long time. I’m happy with everything I did and I want to do one more. Let’s see what happens.”
Maia even has an idea of who he would like to face. There has been talk of a fight with Diego Sanchez after the latter called him out a while ago. It’s an intriguing contest with both fighters being legends of the sport and Sanchez notably having never been submitted in his career.
Another option Maia likes is Donald Cerrone who has one more UFC win than him in the all-time list.
“Yes [I have opponents in mind],” Maia added. “There’s two guys — one is Diego Sanchez, because he’s been asking for this fight for a long time so I want to fight him in the last fight. A good last fight because he’s an old legend too.
“The other one is [Donald] Cerrone — also would be interesting because he has one win more than I [in the UFC]. … Yes, that’s it [tying the record and walking away].”
Who do you want to see Maia face in his retirement fight?
