Demian Maia earned a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Masvidal a UFC 211, a win that earned the fighter a shot at the UFC Welterweight Title.
With a bout against UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley looming, the Brazilian says that he would rather die than talk trash.
“I’m not going to sell myself just because I want to be a champion or just because I want to make more money,” he said at the UFC 211 post-fight press conference. “I am who I am and I’m a role model for a lot of people, and for my kids. I’m not going to change … A lot of people came to me (and said) ‘you need to trash talk’ and this kind of thing. That’s not me … I have my principles. I’d rather die than change my principles.”
Maia earned his seventh straight win at UFC 211 and the Brazilian has fought for the UFC Middleweight Title before.
The Brazilian does have the resume to fight for the welterweight title, a resume that he’s all too happy to talk about.
“I’ve been in this division for 12 fights,” he said. “I’ve won 10 fights, and almost all of those fights have been against top-15 and top-10 competitors.”
A date for the title fight has yet to be revealed, but the champion has said before that he’s defending the gold sometime this July.
