MMA, mano a mano Demian Maia busca a trilha do cinturão do UFC
by Gustavo Noblat
translation by zé
You bout against Dan Miller was, at first, part of the undercard and later promoted to the main card due to the canceling of another fight. For someone who was one step away from fighting for the belt is it painful to almost see yourself excluded from the main card?
It always is, you know. It’s always kind of a pain. You see that your value, in reality, is directly connected to your last fight. Your past doesn’t matter, things you’ve done, five fights and five submission wins. It doesn’t make a difference. What matters is always the last fight you had. But I’m a fighter and I know that that’s how it works, there’s no point in lying to myself. At first it’s a pain, but it just fuels your desire to perform even better.
Does your only conqueror Nate Marquardt deserve to fight for the belt?
I think he does. He demonstrated it in his last fight. He’s already had a chance, but in the same way that I want to have another chance to continue fighting and get to the top again, he also has the right to make his way back there and fight for the belt. He earned it.
How far was your career set back on account of the loss to Nate?
I have no way to measure that. Everything is still depending on my next fights and results.
Do you consider Dan Miller one of the top guys in the category?
He isn’t very well known in Brazil, but elsewhere he is. Just like Nate, you know? I talked about Nate here in Brazil and lots of people didn’t know who he was. [Dan] was a champion in the IFL and is an excellent fighter. He’s a good test for me right now.
What did you think about them scheduling a fight against Miller?
He is a tough guy, who was a champion. He’s good on the ground. I think they want to test me since he’s complete, like Nate. Perhaps he isn’t at the same level as Nate, but he’s someone who stands and strikes and has a good ground game. So, I think they want to test me and see who’ll leave the winner to start working on their career again.
Have you watched Miller’s fights from the IFL or did you just get to watching them now?
To tell the truth, I don’t watch MMA fights often, I just watch my friends’. I watch Rogério Minotouro, Rodrigo Minotauro, Júnior Cigano, Wanderlei Silva. Other fights are difficult for me to stop and watch. I watch my opponents’ fights so as to outline a strategy, but I don’t have much patience to watch other athletes’ fights. I’ve been like that for a long time, watching fights for a long time, so I end up really watching the closest people to me, in addition to my opponents.
What should Miller’s strategy be against you?
He’ll try to strike a little, but he is basically a ground fighter. So, the natural thing for him is to want to exchange and then try his jiu-jitsu. There’s no way around it, it’s his instinct. But I think he’ll try to beat me standing.
Do you now prefer to watch MMA fights or jiu-jitsu?
It depends. I like to watch any good fight, jiu-jitsu or MMA. What I don’t care for is going out on a Saturday night to watch fights at 1 in the morning. I’d rather go out and then later watch only the fights that I want to see.
How much do you want to fight Nate again?
I think one day I’ll fight with him again, but it’ll be at the right moment. I don’t think that fight would be interesting for the UFC right now, nor for me or Nate. Farther down the road, one day we’ll face each other again.
Did the loss to Nate show that you need to put more emphasis on your stand up game?
I didn’t start to train stand-up because of him. I always trained, ever since I got into UFC I knew that I had to be professional and improve myself standing up, it’s just that it takes time to evolve in that aspect. I’m still evolving and training stand-up, but I believe that in the fight against Nate my biggest mistake involved strategy and concentration. My concentration slipped and I messed up strategically. Experience was lacking and for that I tried kicking him aimlessly, without being very focused in the beginning of the fight.
You recently said that you were reaching your prime as a fighter. What’s giving you this certainty and how do you behave in the event that you lose to Dan Miller, believing yourself to be in your best form? Would this make a loss even more frustrating?
No. I don’t think about that. I don’t think about the defeat nor the victory. To tell the truth I only think about going there and fighting. Two people get in there and one will have to lose and the other win. So there’s none of that. I’m a fighter and I’m prepared for a victory or for a defeat. Winning or losing will not leave me depressive. I’ll do everything to win. I feel that with every fight I evolve and improve technically. In these two years in the UFC I’ve only evolved. It’s always a climb. I feel better with every fight.
Vitor Belfort vs Anderson Silva, what’s your bet?
No expert that I talk with will risk calling a winner. Lots of people that have trained with both of them don’t know who will win. Vitor has every chance of winning. In that fight he’ll be a 100 meter sprinter and Anderson has to be a marathon runner. For Vitor it’s best to come out quickly, but taking care not to get caught by Anderson’s counters. But it’s a dangerous fight. If it goes the distance it’s better for Anderson.
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