Middleweight Demian Maia has taken the second position on the UFC total wins list. This means he passed GSP and Michael Bisping along the way there. Amazing.
The only man ahead of his 21 wins is the very active and successful Donald Cowboy Cerrone. This fact was so stealthy that one of my fellow writers had to point it out to me. This is the same Demian Maia that was embarrassed by Anderson Silva in a five round snooze fest that Dana White went mental on after it was over.
Over the weekend he managed to win a majority decision over Anthony Rocco Martin at UFC on ESPN 3. Before that he submitted 20-5-0 Lyman Good which was much needed since he was on a three fight skid. Those three losses came against the champ and two former welterweight champs in Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington (interim), and current 170 pound king Kamaru Usman.
What people forget from time to time is that Maia is a submission specialist. He has been fighting in the UFC since 2007 which puts him a rare group of fighters to survive that long in a company containing the top tier of talent in the world. Out of his 21 wins he won 10 by submission and his only losses have been by decision with the exception of one lone KO which is impressive in itself.
While it is likely he could stay on a little longer in the UFC if enough people pushed him in to doing so he could retire today and be proud of his accomplishments. At 41 years of age he is standing on the line between stayed too long and just long enough.
Should Maia call it quits?