Demian Maia isn’t ruling out a return to competition, in either grappling or the UFC.

A former title contender at middleweight and welterweight, Maia last fought in the octagon in June 2021, losing a decision to future champion Belal Muhammad.

At 48, he stays busy running his Jiu-Jitsu gym in Sao Paulo, doing color commentary for the UFC on Paramount+, coaching fighters like Ian Machado Garry and Charles Oliveira, and teaching seminars worldwide.
Even so, he says he’d consider lacing the gloves back up for the right opportunity.

Here is what he had to say in a conversation with MMA Fighting:

[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…

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.

Across 33 UFC appearances, Maia picked up 22 wins, half by submission, over opponents including Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen, Ben Askren, Matt Brown, and Neil Magny.

A three-fight win streak preceded his final two losses, to Gilbert Burns and Muhammad:

I do feel like I never got a proper farewell, you know? I already wanted one more fight so I could retire.
I was already thinking about stepping away, but it never happened.

So there’s always that feeling of: “Man, I wish I had been able to close that chapter” and I never got the chance.
I think it’s very unlikely the UFC would want to make something like that happen, but this sport surprises us every single day.

On the grappling side, Maia has competed three times since retiring from the UFC, finishing Alex Oliveira and Sang Wook Kim and outpointing Benson Henderson.

He said offers arrive constantly, but nothing has stood out yet:

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

I’m not worried about it because I’ll compete if it’s something that makes sense, something I enjoy, and something I think is cool, and offers keep coming all the time.

He did name names when asked what would excite him:

A really fun match would be against Nate or Nick Diaz, the Diaz brothers, because those guys bring a ton of hype.
They’re both very good at jiu-jitsu and they’ll attract a huge audience.

That’s interesting because I’d get to benefit from the buzz they generate.

And there’s Georges St-Pierre. That goes without saying.
He’s an incredibly tough competitor, an outstanding Jiu-Jitsu practitioner under Danaher, one of the best coaches in the world.

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