[citation needed] Originally from Kosovo (then part of SFR Yugoslavia), he relocated to Switzerland and began training in Muay Thai at the age of fifteen.
After his comeback to K-1 on June 5, 1999, at K-1 Fight Night '99, where he earned his first victory in the promotion by flooring Winston Walker three times in the third round en route to a technical knockout win, he headed to Pula, Croatia a month later to challenge double world champion Igor Ivošević.
Following this up with a defence of his WPKC Cruiserweight title against Hubert Lisovski in Winterthur,[5] he then earned the biggest victory of his career at that point when he defeated Canada's Clifton Brown inside one round in front of over 100,000 spectators at the 2001 King's Cup at Sanam Luang in Bangkok, Thailand on December 6.
Having scored two quick first-round KOs over Abdel Lamidi and Ferenc Gasztany in the run-up, Maksutaj lost a majority decision to Grégory Tony in the final.
He was granted a chance at revenge against Gregory Tony the following month at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Paris, but the tall Frenchman came out on top once again by winning a five-round majority decision.
He knocked out Rob Lloyd in the quarter-finals and outpointed Miloš Kopták in the semis, before losing to his rival Gregory Tony for the third time in the final by unanimous decision.
[3] In his next outing a month later, Maksutaj fought outside Europe for the first time, losing a unanimous judges' decision to Shingo Koyasu at K-1 Beast II 2003 in Saitama, Japan on June 29, 2003.
[5] Breaking a three-fight losing streak, he defeated Hungarian journeyman Tihamér Brunner by decision on December 13, 2003, for the WMTA World Super Heavyweight title in a victorious homecoming to Winterthur.
He was drawn against the three-time K-1 North American champion Michael McDonald in the quarter-finals, and the two smaller, more technical heavyweights traded punches in an entertaining, back-and-forth battle.
A disastrous round two saw him dropped with a spinning back kick to the body in the opening seconds and then a points deduction for kneeing Karaev in the face after he had slipped to the ground.
[3] After re-matching with James Phillips in Lucerne, Switzerland on June 3, 2006, and winning on points again, Maksutaj returned to the fight capital of the world and faced the stiffest test of his career in the form of the great Ray Sefo.
[6] He fared no better in his next match when he took on Jörgen Kruth at the K-1 World MAX North European Qualification 2007 in Stockholm on November 24, 2006, as he lost by KO from a knee midway through the opening round.
[5] In an attempt to turn his fortunes around, he competed in the K-1 Rules Heavyweight Tournament 2007 in Turkey four-man competition in Istanbul on January 13, 2007, where he faced Kaoklai Kaennorsing, a two-time Rajadamnern Stadium champion renowned for taking fights with much larger opponents and defeating the majority of them, in the semi-finals.
[citation needed] In his next outing on May 19, 2007, he lost by technical knockout against Nathan Corbett, the eventual tournament champion, in the quarter-finals of the K-1 Fighting Network Scandinavian Qualification 2007 in Stockholm.
[5] In one of his last fights before retiring, he was awarded a disqualification win over Domagoj Ostojić after his Croatian opponent continued to punch and kick him after knocking him to the canvas in round one of their contest in Zadar, Croatia on May 11, 2008.