Former welterweight and middleweight title contender Demian Maia recently extended his contract with the UFC, and by the sounds of things it could be the last one for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace.
“We did renegotiate a new contract,” Maia told the Combate site. “I had one pending fight on my last contract, but we renegotiated and now I have four more left. My career is coming to an end, I’m already looking at retirement. I want to perform in the best possible, in these four fights. I’m not sure if I’ll stop after that, but there’s a big chance. I want to give my best and then I’ll see what happens next.”
On Saturday night the 40-year old will undertake the first fight of his new deal, looking to put an end to a two-fight losing streak when he faces the in-form Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Fight Night 129 in Santiago, Chile.
It’s not an easy match-up to get back to winning ways, with the 31-year-old Usman holding a perfect 7-0 record in the UFC to date, but Maia, who enjoyed a seven-fight unbeaten stretch of his own not so long ago against tougher opposition, is confident he can emerge with his hand raised.
“I believe the crowd will be with me, which is great. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene is growing a lot over there, and that helps me, it puts the fans on my side, since I carry the flag. Once I’m in there, though, it’s all about doing my job and performing professionally. We’ve got some strategies and gameplans, but you’ll never know a fight will turn out. My team is really good at developing a gameplan and it works for most of the time. You just have to be prepared to make it work.”
