In times where fighters choose money fights over title fights, Demian Maia is going in a different direction.

The Sao Paulo native hopes to be the next in line against Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight championship after making quick work of former interim UFC and WEC 170-pound champion Carlos Condit in Vancouver, and not even the chance to welcome welterweight superstar Georges St-Pierre back into the Octagon would change his mind.

GSP is negotiating his return to the Octagon and mentioned Maia as one of the fighters he would be interested in facing at UFC 204, an event scheduled for Dec. 10 in Toronto, during an interview on UFC Tonight. Maia felt flattered with the former champion’s comments, but is not interested in passing on a title shot for that opportunity.

"I’m honored that he mentioned my name because he’s a legend," Maia told MMA Fighting. "He’s maybe the only fighter to leave as champion. He’s one of the best, for sure, alongside Anderson (Silva). I consider Anderson the best of all time, but he’s definitely the No. 2. But my goal is to fight for the title. I want to fight for the title. After that, it would be a pleasure to fight him or anyone else. If everything goes according to my plans, I’ll come out as champion and then I can fight him next."

Fellow UFC fighter Nate Diaz recently said that he’s more interested in big fights than a chance to challenge a champion in the Octagon. For Maia, though, a chance to win a title is more important.

"I know I can become champion and that’s an important factor," said Maia, who turns 39 in November. "Maybe some people don’t think they can be champion. I don’t know which reasons they might have, or if they just prefer money. I didn’t choose this career for money. When I started training, I did it because I liked it, and I never had money for anything in my life.

"I’m really happy to be able to live my life doing what I love," he continued. "Everybody needs money, obviously, but that’s far from being the most important thing in the world to me. You can trade money for other good things and that’s nice, but it’s not the first thing that matters to me. I’m a martial artist and I have other priorities."

The UFC has yet to make an announcement on who faces Woodley next, and Maia says that any decision the promotion makes between him and Thompson will be a correct decision.

"My goal is to win the belt," the jiu-jitsu expect said. "If I have to wait for Woodley to fight Thompson, it’s not the end of the world. It’s definitely a better scenario if I can fight first, but when people ask me who deserves it most, you can make the case for each one of us with good arguments. Thinking as an analyst, it’s hard to say for sure. It’s 50-50.

"(Thompson) is coming off seven wins and beat a former champion. His last two fights are what really put him right up there. I’ve been fighting top-15 or even top-10 more regularly, though. Aside from Alexander Yakovlev, my last five wins were against top-ranked opponents. And I beat a former UFC and WEC champion in Carlos Condit. Something in my favor is that I have 18 wins in 24 fights in the UFC, and Thompson has eight wins in nine UFC fights with a loss to Matt Brown, who I just beat. But what I really want is to fight for the UFC title."