foto: DEMIAN MAIA word experience
After the knockout suffered against Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia is training hard to avoid being surprised again. The tough-guy will face Dan Miller in his return to the UFC, in February, and is sharpening his Boxing in Salvador, Bahia. In an exclusive chat with TATAME, Demian spoke about his training, assesses his division, and comments on fights that will happen in the UFC, among other things. Check out the complete interview with the blackbelt below.
How’s the training?
It’s excellent, I’m here in Salvador, training with the guys here, I train in São Paulo as well with my Boxing coach… I have a lot of good guys to train with me, my physical preparation is excellent, I’m able to concentrate here in Bahia, I don’t have the concerns that I have in São Paulo, I have quality Jiu-Jitsu training… I’m doing fine.
You were close to fighting for the belt, but suffere that defeat to Nate… What new things do you bring for your return against Dan Miller, to avoid being surprised?
Surprises always happen and I can’t say that something will never happen again, because it can always happen. I always trained a lot, but now I have a different focus, looking to invest in everything that I need, I’m doing everything that I can to improve in all aspects and arts.
Do you know what his game is?
I know that he is a guy that fights well standing and on the ground, he won plenty of fights by submission, but I haven’t yet started to study him. I didn’t get it yet, but I’m gonna get his DVD to watch his fights. For me, the clinch is always a good deal. Although I’m evolving a lot standing up, my weapon is Jiu-Jitsu, my stand-up could be a secret weapon.
The middleweight division is one of the most competitive of the UFC…
Honestly, there are several good guys with me, I think it’s gonna be a big mess. They’re having trouble arranging who will face Anderson, it seems that it will be Vitor Belfort now … This category has Bisping, Wanderlei, Nate, Anderson, who’s the champion, there’s a lot of god people… I think that a lot of turnarounds are going to happen, we’ll see what’s going to happen. I saw that I was ranked 4th in the division, below Nate and Anderson.
How would you analyze the fight between Vitor and Anderson?
Everyone that I know and that knows the tow of them wouldn’t gamble on a prediction, nobody knows who will win. It’s a very complicated fight for them, for the public it will be great, an excellent fight. Vitor is an explosive guy right from the start, like a 100 m dash. Vitor has a good chance in the beginning and Anderson is very technical. If he goes taking the fight and bringing Vitor into his game, he’ll thrive.
And the fight between Minotouro and Brandon Vera?
That fight will be tough. Minotouro beat Banha, a guy who was undefeated in his career, who’s excellent, a guy who, if he had won, would have been in place to fight for the title… Now, he will face Brandon, who is another top guy as well, and if he wins he will be close to fighting for the belt, which is well deserved, because he not only has a history in the UFC, but in Japan in Pride.
What can the public expect from your return?
They can expect the same aggressive fight as always, just with more experience, knowledge, and much more at home in the octagon, and always looking to put on the best show possible. I like to fight for the fans, it’s an important part of the performance.
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