The UFC has officially parted ways with three more fighters including multi-time title challenger Demian Maia following the end of his recent contract.
Former bantamweight contender Jimmie Rivera and Christian Aguilera have also been removed from the UFC roster.
The news about Maia’s exit doesn’t come as a surprise after he completed his contract with the UFC with his fight against Belal Muhammad in June. It was ultimately Maia’s second straight loss overall after he had rattled off three wins in a row including a submission victory over Ben Askren.
The 43-year-old submission specialist had been a mainstay with the UFC since 2007 and he fought a who’s who of opponents at both middleweight and welterweight during his career. Maia competed for UFC gold on two separate occasions but came up short in both bids when he dropped a decision to Anderson Silva and then suffered the same fate against Tyron Woodley seven years later.
Maia had asked the UFC for one more opportunity to compete for the promotion in what he expected to be the final fight of his career but now that he’s been dropped from the roster, it’s unclear what he’ll choose to do next.
Meanwhile, Rivera exits the UFC after he was a stalwart in the UFC bantamweight rankings for several years.
Rivera started his run with the promotion with five straight wins including victories over Urijah Faber and Pedro Munhoz. After falling to Marlon Moraes by knockout in 2018, Rivera was never able to get back on track with a 2-4 record overall in his last six fights with the UFC.
Finally, Aguilera leaves the UFC after a 1-2 mark in the promotion.
He made short work of Anthony Ivy in his octagon debut, earning a stunning 59-second knockout, but then fell by submission to both Sean Brady and Carlston Harris in his next two fights.
