Veteran Demian Maia isn’t sure if his next fight at UFC 263 will be the last of his career. The Brazilian will face Belal Muhammad in an intriguing clash of the generations.
In an interview for Combate, Maia explained that if all things go well against Belal, there is no reason not to pursue one more fight. However, Demian knows that retirement is not far away but as long as he feels healthy and competitive enough to fight he will continue to do so.
Demian Maia will decide his future depending on the outcome of his UFC 263 fight.
“To be honest, I’m trying my best not to think about retirement, so I don’t charge it toward the fight. That can disrupt my performance. I have two plans in my mind. One is to make this fight, that’s the main thing. I may or may not retire after this fight. If I do well, and more importantly, if I feel good, I would like to have one more fight before I retire. It’s going to be this fight or the next fight. It’s not going to go past that.”
Matched up against Belal Muhammad, who had an impressive four-fight winning streak before his duel with Leon Edwards ended in a no contest, Demian knows the task ahead of him will not be easy. However, the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt believes he could take the fight to the ground and add one more submission to his record.
“He’s a good striker, even though he comes from wrestling, he fights like a striker. He takes some opponents to the ground, which I don’t think is going to be the case for me. I think he will try to trade punches with me. He’s well prepared, tough, he’s got a good gas tank. He comes at you and tries to win with his volume. It’s not an easy fight. He changes his stance quite a bit, he’s a good fighter on his feet, with good wrestling to back it up.”
Demian has no problem accepting that his strategy will be fairly predictable. In the end it will come down to who can impose their game to come out on top.
“There are two ways the fight can go. One is that I can impose my strategy. The other is that he will fight back and not let me get him. Then, he will impose his stand-up strategy, which will be hard for me to keep up. I hope I can subdue him. Preferably as soon as possible and without suffering any damage, and so does he. I hope I can win in the best possible way. I always look for the submission.”
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