Demian Maia wants Diego Sanchez next
Demian Maia got back into the win column at UFC Fortaleza with a first-round submission win over Lyman Good. The win snapped his three-fight losing streak. He lost to Tyron Woodley for the belt, Colby Covington, and Kamaru Usman. It was a tough stretch of fights for the Brazilian.
Now, the 41-year-old legend wants to fight another legend in the sport in Diego Sanchez.
“I have a lot of respect for Diego, he is a warrior, and like I said on my Twitter, you can never underestimate experience,” Maia said to MMAFighting. “I really thought it was nice to see him go against the odds and get the win. It’s not easy to be competing at a high level for so long, it’s a tough game, and he deserves a lot of recognition. So, I would be honored to compete against him, after all the history we both have in the sport. Why not?”
Ultimately, the fight would be a hard one to predict as Maia is a submission specialist, while Sanchez has never been submitted in his career. With that, Maia knows it would be a ‘fun fight’ for the fans. And a fight that is hard to predict.
”Fights are fights. It’s a cliche, but it’s true. You can never know how they’ll go down for sure until you do it,” Maia said. “Diego has a very good ground game, often underrated, is experienced, tough, has a lot of heart and has a great pace. I wouldn’t underestimate him at all, and I think it would be fun, with a lot of interesting scrambles. He is an offensive fighter, so he wouldn’t just try to avoid grappling at any costs, so it would be fun to watch, for sure.”
Both Maia and Sanchez have expressed interest in the fight. Now, Maia understands it needs to happen now if it will happen at all.
”I think if there’s a time this can make sense, it is now,” Maia said.”And if it doesn’t happen now, it most likely won’t ever happen.”
