Dana White Believes Demian Maia Fought His Last Fight For The UFC

We may have seen the last of Demian Maia.

Maia suffered his second defeat in a row after getting outpointed by Belal Muhammad on the UFC 263 main card last night. Although he landed a takedown in the first, he had no luck for the rest of the fight as Muhammad did an excellent job defending every other attempt.

Maia eventually started to gas out with all the failed attempts as Muhammad peppered him with shots to go on and earn the unanimous decision victory.

The Brazilian previously hinted that his fight with Muhammad could be his last and White confirmed as much in the post-fight press conference adding that it was Maia’s last fight on his current contract.

“I think that was his last fight,” White said (via MMA Fighting). “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.”

If this is the end for Maia, he will still go down as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history.

Although he failed on two attempts to become the UFC champion, with 33 appearances for the UFC, he is tied for the most submission wins in both the welterweight and middleweight division with six. He also holds the second-most all-time wins in the promotion with 22 — just one behind Donald Cerrone.

More than anything, he will go down as arguably the best jiu-jutsu grappler to have ever competed in the promotion. It will certainly be interesting to see what’s the next for him.