Demian Maia explains retirement plans
Demian Maia is back in action on Saturday taking on Lyman Good at UFC Fortaleza.
Maia is back fighting in his home country of Brazil and looking to snap his three-fight losing streak. Although many are counting out Maia given he has lost three in a row, those losses came against Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington, and Kamaru Usman, the three top welterweights in the division. However, Maia is 41-years-old and many think he will retire following this fight, but that may not be the case.
“I go fight by fight,” Maia told MMAjunkie this week. “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.”
Ultimately, even though his last win was in May of 2017, Maia is confident his skill has not declined and he is still the same old fighter.
“I look in perspective and see that even though they were losses, it was to the top-level guys,” Maia said. “It’s something I need to keep in my mind. I don’t feel like my performance is dropping. I don’t feel my excitement and passion to train dropping. It was a fight. The difference is sometimes when you’re 30 years old, you lose some fights and you say, ‘Oh, it was a bad phase.’ But when you’re 41 and lose some fights they say, ‘Oh, it’s a drop in performance.’”
For now, the focus is on Saturday and fighting Lyman Good. If he comes out on top, he hopes to start to work his way to the top again. However, if he loses, the question of his future grows.
