Former UFC title challenger Demian Maia took on surging welterweight contender Gilbert Burns in the co-headliner of tonight’s UFC Brasilia event.

Maia (28-10 MMA) entered the bout on a three-fight winning streak, his latest being an impressive submission victory over Ben Askren at UFC Singapore.

Meanwhile, Burns (18-3 MMA) entered tonight’s UFC Brasilia headliner on a four-fight winning streak, his most recent win coming by decision over Gunnar Nelson.

After an entertaining opening two minutes, which saw the jiu-jitsu experts trade positions on the ground, Gilbert Burns returned to his feet and landed a big left hand that sent Demian Maia crashing to the Octagon canvas. “Durinho” would look at the referee to step in and stop the fight, but when he didn’t, Burns was forced to deliver some follow up ground and pound. Eventually the referee had seen enough and stepped in to call the contest. Maia was still moving at the time of the stoppage and was thus asked to give his take on the fight-ending sequence during today’s post-fight press conference.

“I felt I was ok, but you don’t know.” Demian Maia said. “The referee said that he thought I was out, and that’s OK. That’s the sport.”

The submission ace would go on to reveal that his next fight will “probably” be his last and that he would like that bout to come against either “Diego Sanchez or Donald Cerrone”.

Demian Maia has challenged for both the promotions middleweight and welterweight titles during his illustrious career, but ultimately came up short in his attempts to dethrone then-champions Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley.

Who would you prefer to see Demain Maia match up with in his retirement fight, Diego Sanchez or Donald Cerrone? Sound off in the comments section of this post PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com March 14, 2020