It appears that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is parting ways
with Demian Maia
and Jimmie
Rivera.
According to a report from
MMAFighting.com, Maia, Rivera and Christian
Aguilera are no longer under contract with the UFC. While Maia
fought the last fight on his existing deal, it is unclear if Rivera
and Aguilera completed their contracts or were released.
A title challenger at both middleweight and welterweight, Maia
exits the organization on a two-bout losing streak. In his last
outing, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace dropped a three-round verdict
to Belal
Muhammad at UFC 263. Maia went 22-11 during his UFC tenure,
falling to Anderson
Silva in a middleweight title bid at UFC 112 in April 2010 and
losing to Tyron
Woodley in a welterweight title bout at UFC 214 in July 2017.
After his latest defeat, UFC president Dana White said that Maia
had probably competed in the Octagon for the last time.
Rivera, meanwhile, leaves the UFC having lost four of his last six
appearances. The Team Tiger Schulmann representative authored a
20-bout professional winning streak from February 2009 to July
2017, a run that included five victories in the Octagon. “El
Terror” earned notable wins over the likes of Urijah
Faber, Pedro
Munhoz, John Dodson
and Cody Stamman in UFC competition.
Aguilera scored a 59-second TKO of Anthony Ivy
in his debut at UFC on ESPN 10 but has since suffered back-to-back
submission defeats against Sean Brady
and Carlston
Lindsay Harris.