Demian Maia begins countdown to retirement

D. Maia is expected to retire in 2019. (Photo: Reproduction Facebook UFC)

In Chile, the Brazilian welterweight fighter, Demian Maia is ready to face the Nigerian, Kamaru Usman in the main fight of UFC Chile in Santiago on Saturday (19). Demian accepted the fight less than a month before the event, when the Argentine, Santiago Ponzinibbio He suffered a hand injury and had to withdraw from the fight.

With just one fight under contract with the UFC, Maia renegotiated a short-term deal and is expected to finish his UFC career in four fights. Demian begins the countdown to retirement at UFC Chile.

PUBLICITY:

See too

Demian Maia replaces Ponzinibbio and faces Usman in the main fight of UFC Chile

Shogun's coach bets on title shot after fight at UFC Chile

Mauricio Shogun faces Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Chile

In an interview with the program 'MMA Hour', Demian stated that his plan is to do all the fights until the end of the 2019 season at the latest. After the contract ends, it is possible for Demian to retire at the age of 40 and with a record of 33 fights .

“We ended up renegotiating the contract. I had one fight pending on my contract, we renegotiated for four more. I'm coming to the end of my career, already looking towards retirement. I want to do these four fights in the best possible way, because I don't know yet if I'm going to stop, but there's a good chance I'll stop after these four fights. I want to do my best in this fight and in the next three, and after that I'll see what will happen”, explained Demian to the website Combate.com.

PUBLICITY:

Since 2007 in the UFC, Maia has 25 wins and eight losses in his career, but has come from two consecutive defeats. At UFC Chile, the Brazilian faces the 31-year-old Nigerian and is going through a good phase in Ultimate.

“It’s not just one reason. They needed me [to save the card]. Of course, it wasn't perfect for me because I didn't have much time. He's a tough guy. But there were a few things. One of them is that I started promoting here three years ago. It’s cool to come here, the first event in South America outside of Brazil”, she said.

PUBLICITY: