It’s been a rough twelve months for Demian Maia, who has now gone 0-3 with this latest loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC Chile. Prior to that, the BJJ ace went on a 7 fight win streak that earned him a welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley. Woodley’s wrestling was simply too much, and that’s been the story in Maia’s next fights against Colby Covington and now Usman.
But despite this skid, Maia plans to soldier on until his UFC contract is complete.
“I still have three fights under my contract,” Maia said during the post-event press conference. “I want to do those three fights. It was short notice for this fight, I only prepared for three weeks. And actually, my last three fights were against wrestlers. My game plan is to take the fighters down, so it was tough fights. But I still have the will to finish my contract.”
Rather than working his way back into title contention, Maia has his eye on breaking the record for most wins in the UFC, currently held in a three way tie by Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, and Donald Cerrone at 20. Maia currently sits at 19.
”To be honest, I’m more focused on breaking records of finishes in the UFC. My last three fights were against top wrestlers like Woodley, Colby, and tonight Usman. So I’m going to keep concentrating on finishing my contract, my last three fights, and break those records.”
He might need some slightly more favorable matchmaking to accomplish that goal. At this point, it’s clear that wrestlers are Maia’s kryptonite. After facing three of the best wrestlers at 170 pounds (and stepping up last minute to save the UFC Chile main event), you’d hope the UFC might give him a different kind of opponent.
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