Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera have been removed from the UFC rankings pool after expiry of current contracts
Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera have both been removed from the UFC rankings pool with their contracts recently expiring.
The two men have reportedly fought out the remainder of their contracts, as per MMA Junkie’s John Morgan, and it doesn’t appear as if the UFC is in any hurry to bring them back.
Demian Maia recently lost to Belal Muhammad to take his current losing streak to two, whereas Jimmie Rivera most recently suffered defeat at the hands of Pedro Munhoz.
Demian Maia - a true icon
While some may suggest this has been coming, many feel as if both Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera deserved better from the company.
“It was brought to my attention that both Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera have been removed from the UFC’s online roster. Spoke to a UFC official who confirmed that “both have fought out their deals” at this time and are not currently under contract,” wrote John Morgan on Twitter.
Demian Maia, in particular, has been an ever-present member of the roster for many years now, with many considering him to be one of the promotion’s greatest ever submission artists.
Jimmie Rivera, meanwhile, was once viewed as a top bantamweight contender but ever since the defeat to Marlon Moraes, he hasn’t really been the same.
The departure of both individuals really does speak to UFC’s tendency to move on from fighters without much thought behind it. Sure, they may respect what they’ve done for the company, but there’s no grand send-off that many fans may like to see.
Rivera is just 32 years of age and could easily head on over to another promotion, but Demian Maia is in his forties now, and there are questions surrounding whether or not he can still compete at the elite level.
It seems silly to doubt him given that he’s a former title challenger at both middleweight and welterweight, but as we all know, Father Time catches up to everyone in mixed martial arts and the end of the road was always going to come for him at some point.
Regardless of what happens next, both men have a solid legacy and fans have largely acknowledged that.