Demian
Maia may have fought his final bout in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace struggled mightily against Belal
Muhammad in a featured welterweight bout at UFC 263, failing on
20 of 21 takedown attempts in a unanimous decision loss at Gila
River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Saturday night.
After a three-bout winning streak in 2019, Maia has dropped
back-to-back bouts and has lost five of his last eight Octagon
appearances dating back to 2017. UFC president Dana White confirmed
that Maia probably won’t compete for the Las Vegas-based promotion
again at Saturday’s post-fight press conference.
“I think that was his last fight,” White said. “It was the last
fight on his deal. He’s [43 years old]. He’s been so good at
getting in there, securing the takedown, getting on top of people
and just strangling them or grabbing something and twisting it
until you quit, and he couldn’t get it done tonight. He’s [43 years
old], he’s a great guy, he’s had a great career, and yes, I would
say that’s probably it.”
That would seemingly align with Maia’s sentiments following his
previous loss to Gilbert
Burns in March 2020, when he said he
wanted to retire after one more fight.
For Muhammad, it was a surreal experience simply sharing the cage
with Maia – even at this point of the Brazilian veteran’s
career.
It was just more like, ‘Damn, I’m fighting Demian
Maia.’ This is like a legend that you look up to type of guy,”
he said. “You can sit there and talk about it, but when you’re
actually in the cage with him, you’re like, ‘Damn, I’m fighting
Demian
Maia.’
“It was an honor to watch him and being a fan of his since I was a
kid, watching him against Anderson
Silva, watching him fight for the title twice. It’s an honor to
share the cage with a guy like that.”