Demian Maia, Jimmie Rivera no longer under contract with UFC

Demian Maia, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight and Welterweight title challenger, and long-term ranked Bantamweight, Jimmie Rivera, are no longer on the promotion’s roster.

Maia (No. 11) and Rivera (No. 13) have parted ways with UFC, according to promotion officials. This puts to rest Maia’s hopes of having one final UFC fight against a big name.

“It was brought to my attention that both Demian Maia and Jimmie Rivera have been removed from the UFC’s online roster,” MMA Junkie’s John Morgan tweeted on Monday. “Spoke to a UFC official who confirmed that ‘both have fought out their deals’ at this time and are not currently under contract.”

Maia (28-11) ends his UFC run on consecutive losses to Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns (watch highlights), but defeated Ben Askren, Anthony Rocco Martin and Lyman Good in the three fights before that. He unsuccessfully challenged Anderson Silva for UFC’s Middleweight title at UFC 112 in April 2010, and UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 214 in July 2017. The grappling ace holds victories over big stars like Jorge Masvidal, Carlos Condit, Matt Brown and Chael Sonnen, among others.

Rivera (23-5) is 2-3 in his last five fights with wins over Cody Stamann and John Dodson, plus setbacks against Pedro Munhoz, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling. His hit list includes Urijah Faber, Thomas Almeida and an earlier victory against Munhoz.

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