Demian Maia felt he was shortchanged by the referee in his fight with Gilbert Burns at UFC on ESPN+ 28, but unsurprisingly, he’s handling the defeat with all class.
Maia (28-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) suffered a first-round TKO loss to Burns (17-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s welterweight co-headliner at Ginasio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia, Brazil, ending a three-fight winning streak for the two-time UFC title challenger.
After having positive moments in the early going, mostly in the grappling department, Maia got clipped with a hard shot by Burns that sent him crashing to the canvas. Burns jumped on top with some additional strikes that caused the referee to step in, but some observers, and Maia himself, felt it was ended a bit too soon.
“Unfortunately, the referee stopped it – I thought I could go a little bit more, but it is what it is,” Maia said on the UFC on ESPN+ 28 post-fight show. “I feel I was OK. I felt I was OK, but you don’t know. The referee said that he thought I was out, and that’s OK – that’s the sport. I was feeling good, I was getting good in the jiu-jitsu positions, but he got me well with that hook.”
Maia, 42, has long stated that he’s near retirement. The Brazilian submission specialist, who has been part of the UFC roster since 2007, made the vow to fight out his current four-fight contract, which now has one fight left.
On an upward trajectory heading into the fight, Maia said he would consider extending his retirement timeline if he beat Burns at UFC on ESPN+ 28. It went the opposite way, though, and now Maia is etching his plan in stone. But he doesn’t yet know where or when the last one will be.
“I’ll come back to training and do one more fight then that’s it,” Maia said. “I want to do one more then probably retire. Tonight I was feeling pretty good. I feel I was getting my good positions, but respect. He defended well, he’s a great jiu-jitsu fighter, but he got me with the hook and that happens. That happens in this sport with the small gloves and that’s it. The referee didn’t help too much, but no excuse. He did well and he deserves (the victory).”
