Following his dominant first-round submission victory over former UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit at UFC on FOX 21 this past August in Vancouver, Demian Maia was told by UFC officials that he would get to face the winner of UFC 205’s welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson next.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian submission specialist, the title fight between Woodley and Thompson at UFC 205 ended in a majority draw, which prompted the promotion to book an immediate rematch between “Wonderboy” and “The Chosen One” for UFC 209 this upcoming Saturday night in Las Vegas.

With “Thompson vs. Wooldey 2” right around the corner on March 4, fight fans can only assume that Demian Maia will finally be awarded his shot at UFC welterweight gold against the winner of that highly anticipated rematch later this summer.

However, with the newly announced return of former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre and the UFC’s recent willingness to neglect rankings in favor of “money fights”, there is no certainty when it comes to the fighting future for Demian Maia.

The five time Jiu Jitsu World Champion recently took to Twitter where he delivered the following heartfelt message to his fans:

“Sometimes in life, the more you pursuit a dream, the more it escapes you. All there’s left is to keep walking, and never give up..”

Demian Maia assured his fans that he will never give up on his dream of becoming the UFC welterweight champion of the world.

With that said the former UFC middleweight title challenger has recently turned down fights with Robbie Lawler and Jorge Masvidal in hopes that he will be granted the next title shot against the winner of UFC 209’s Thompson vs. Woodley rematch.

Do you think the UFC will grant Demian Maia a title shot following next weekend’s UFC 209 event in Las Vegas? Sound off PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com February 26/2017