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SAO PAULO – Most of Sao Paulo might want to stuff Colby Covington into a locker, but veteran UFC middleweight Demian Maia doesn’t take his trash talk personally.

After all, Covington told him not to.

“Since the beginning of the week, he said he respected me a lot, and he was promoting the fight, and that was his way of promoting,” said Maia (25-8 MMA, 19-8 UFC) after a unanimous decision loss to Covington (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the FS1-televised co-headliner of UFC Fight Night 119, which took place Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. “He told me I’m a legend, and he admires me and he only does that for promoting.”

Prior to the fight, Covington made no secret of his respect for Maia while also vowing to retire the two-time title challenger. Covington relished his role as a heel who doesn’t care about the reaction his words provoke in fans.

There was no mistaking that stance in Covington’s fiery post-fight interview. He called Brazilians “filthy animals” and called their country a dump while calling for a title shot.

Dozens of fans at Ibirapuera Gymnasium pelted Covington with cups and food as he walked backstage. He was flanked by a team of security guards.

The UFC subsequently pulled him from the event’s post-fight press conference, while UFC executive David Shaw said his conduct is “under review.”

The boos probably didn’t help matters, but Maia admitted he didn’t hear what Covington said during his post-fight interview.

“Obviously, it’s not my style,” Maia said. “I don’t like that style. But I don’t judge him. I think he’s free to do whatever he wants to promote. What matters is he was respectful. He was correct to come and talk to me, so there’s no problem.”

Maia, though, indicated Covington might want to think about his approach to promoting.

“A lot of fighters make misakes about working their image and how they market themselves,” he said. “I think there’s a way of promoting yourself like (Conor) McGregor, with intelligence, like (Chael) Sonnen used to do. But I think it’s a fine line between destroying your image or building your image in the long run. I think people are thinking short term, and besides that, McGregor’s style is risky.

“(Sonnen) was a very tough fighter. He almost beat Anderson (Silva) at his height, and I see a lot of friends of mine who don’t follow fighting, and they used to say, Sonnen just talks and he’s not that good. He created that image. He created that image so much for himself that people don’t think he’s that good. So I think it’s a risk when you do that.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 119, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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