Demian Maia open to one last UFC fight but names Diaz brothers and GSP as dream grappling opponents

Demian Maia has not ruled out a return to the UFC octagon, telling MMA Fighting he would seriously consider one last fight if the promotion came to him with the right offer — but admits the window is closing.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, now 48, last competed in the UFC in June 2021, losing a decision to Belal Muhammad — a result that left him without the farewell he felt he deserved. “I do feel like I never got a proper farewell,” Maia said. “It all ended in a bit of an anticlimactic way. I won one round, he won two. It wasn’t a particularly exciting fight. Even back then, I already wanted one more fight so I could retire.”

Despite the passage of time, Maia insists the door has not fully shut. “[The door] is closing, but I’d be lying if I said that, if the UFC came to me with an offer for a meaningful fight, in the right setting, I wouldn’t do it,” he said. “If it made sense and it was in a place like Rio de Janeiro or Las Vegas, where I’ve fought so many times and have so much history, I would definitely consider it.”

Maia competed 33 times under the UFC banner, going 22-11 with 11 submission victories over the likes of Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen, Ben Askren, Matt Brown, and Neil Magny. He challenged for titles at both middleweight and welterweight, cementing a legacy as one of the sport’s most technically gifted grapplers.

Since his final UFC appearance, Maia has stayed active in submission grappling, submitting Alex Oliveira and Sang Wook Kim while earning a decision win over Benson Henderson. He says offers from grappling organisations arrive regularly, but nothing has yet sparked enough interest to sign.

“We just haven’t signed anything yet because nothing has really made my eyes light up,” Maia said. “There hasn’t been an opponent where I thought, ‘That’s the guy I want, that’s the money I want.’”

He did, however, name two matchups that would change that calculus. “A really fun match would be against Nate or Nick Diaz, the Diaz brothers, because those guys bring a ton of hype,” Maia said. “They’re both very good at jiu-jitsu and they’ll attract a huge audience.” Georges St-Pierre was also cited as an ideal opponent for a high-profile grappling contest.

Outside of competition, Maia remains deeply embedded in the sport — running his jiu-jitsu gym in São Paulo, coaching UFC welterweight Ian Machado Garry and lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, and teaching seminars worldwide.