BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – At 41, Demian Maia has accomplished a lot in MMA. But he’s not done yet.
Maia (26-9 MMA, 20-9 UFC) will return to the octagon on Saturday to take on rising welterweight Anthony Rocco Martin (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) on the main card of UFC on ESPN 3, which takes place at Target Center in Minneapolis and airs on ESPN.
Approaching the 30th fight of his promotional tenure, Maia is still as motivated as ever, he said. Why? The Brazilian feels an obligation to keep being the leading representative of jiu-jitsu in MMA.
“For me, it’s all about keeping what I did for Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” Maia told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 3 open workouts. “Keep going and keep representing this martial art. Of course I’m going to the end of my career, but I’m still training and loving the sport as I always did. I’m still improving and I’m feeling physically, technically, and mentally stronger than ever.”
The two-time UFC title challenge isn’t naive. In the back of his mind, he recognizes he’s approaching the end of his career. For now, however, Maia said he isn’t too concerned about retirement. The focus is on the matchup with Martin.
“I see (the end),” Maia said. “But right now this week I try to not (think) about that too much because I have a great opponent ahead of Saturday. So I’ve got to focus on me.”
Although his next opponent doesn’t have the name recognition of some of his recent in-cage foes, Maia said he isn’t taking Martin lightly. In fact, the grappling standout went as far as to compliment Martin’s ground game.
“He’s actually good on the ground,” Maia said. “He won many of his fights by submission. He has momentum. He came with four wins (in a row). Every time I step inside the octagon I know it’ll be a tough test. I never had easy tests. Even the quick fights were never easy. All of the athletes are so high level when they fight in the UFC that there’s no easy fighters.”
For more on UFC on ESPN 3, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
