Diego Sanchez is all in on a fight against Demian Maia.
Following Maia’s (28-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) third-round submission win over Ben Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 20, the Brazilian said he’s looking to fight out the final two bouts on his current contract before retiring from the sport.
Maia said he would like the next of those fights to come against Sanchez (29-12 MMA, 18-12 UFC).
“Diego Sanchez is somebody that has been calling me out for years and is like a veteran fighter,” Maia said post-fight at UFC on ESPN+ 20. “Let’s see. If people like (the fight), I can do.”
Sanchez, who won Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and has been part of the UFC roster since 2005, watched Maia’s win over Askren with a keen eye and was listening with a close ear.
Within minutes of Maia mentioning his name after his win at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, Sanchez took to social media and enthusiastically responded (via a unanimous-decision loss to Michael Chiesa at UFC 239 in July. He’d won two straight fights prior to that contest, and after each of those mentioned Maia as someone he’d like to fight.
Meanwhile, Maia moved in to second place all-time on the UFC wins list with his effort at UFC on ESPN+ 20. He also has the second most submissions in company history, and he would certainly try to add another against Sanchez, who has never been tapped out in 41 professional contests.
Diego Sanchez responds to Demian Maia's post-UFC on ESPN+ 20 callout
