Michael Chiesa has dismissed Demain Maia’s recent call-out after his win last weekend at UFC Fortaleza, stating he doesn’t see a fight happening between the two at UFC 237 in May.
The recent win for Maia meant he snapped a three-fight losing streak, defeating Lyman Good by first-round submission. Before those three losses, the 41-year-old had picked seven consecutive wins at 170-pounds. With his UFC career coming close to the end, he spoke to MMAjunkie about what interested him in a fight with Chiesa.
“After he won against (Carlos) Condit, a lot of people went to my Twitter page and started to talk about him fighting me and I got interested,” Maia said. “I don’t like to call (out) opponents, but it came to my mind because people keep asking me that.
“Curitiba would be great because the feeling is amazing. It’s a lot of pressure, but it’s a feeling I want to have one more time before I finish my career.”
Chiesa made his welterweight debut in December of last year when he submitted Carlos Condit in the second round at UFC 232. Although he described a potential fight with the UFC veteran Maia as “flattering”, Chiesa wasn’t keen on the matchup as it doesn’t fit into the plans he has for his welterweight future.
“That’s cool, it’s flattering coming from Demian, I just don’t think I fit in his timeline,” Chiesa told Submission Radio. “I don’t see May in Curitiba fitting into my schedule. We already got an opponent in mind, I can’t really say too much, but I think UFC is really looking to go a different direction with me and this certain guy. Thank you, Demian, I’m a big fan of the guy, but I just don’t see it in the foreseeable future.”
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