Demian Maia Jiu Jitsu » UFC112

UFC 112 Invincible – Maia Pre-fight Interview

guto — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:56:39 +0000

Demian in UFC 112: “This is the best carnival of my life”

guto — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:43:03 +0000

Demian is overjoyed for chance to face Anderson. Photo: Josh Hedges

In a recent GRACIEMAG.com interview, Demian Maia said it would take some time before he’d get his shot at Anderson Silva in the UFC. The loss to Nate Marquardt would have perished the possibility. However, things change. Vitor Belfort’s injury opened up a berth in the title fight, to be held April 10 in Abu Dhabi. And Dana White called on the Jiu-Jitsu black belt to fill that berth.

“It couldn’t be any better! This is the best carnival of my life!” celebrates Demian.

“Excellent! It was just what I wanted, something I fought for my entire life. I’ve been preparing myself for this my whole life and to have this opportunity now is great,” he added.

You just fought at UFC 109, on February 6. Can you possibly rest your body enough to fight again April 10?

This is the opportunity I can’t pass up. It may happen only once in my lifetime. It’s not the ideal amount of time, but, at the same time, it’s not bad. I’m coming off a fight and I’m not out of rhythm. I’ll rest this week until half way through next week. Then I’ll get back to training. That will be enough time for my body to rest, because generally that’s how long I rest, about 10 days. The difference is that, this time, I’ll have to pick up the pace a bit quicker than I plan to with four months of pre time.

What is your take on this opportunity against Anderson, probably the most important fight of your career?

I’ve had seven fights in the UFC, I’ve competed in countless Jiu-Jitsu championships and been in really difficult situations. I’ll keep doing what I do and try to be as perfect as possible, in training and in carrying myself. For sure this will be the most important fight, but each fight I go into is the most important. The last one was, the one I lost was, too, because they could lead me to the title. So it’s always important.

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Demian vs. Anderson: “I still can’t believe it”

guto — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:46:05 +0000

By Eduardo Ferreira

Photo Josh Hedges

After Vitor Belfort’s injury, first reported by TATAME.com, everybody waited for Anderson Silva’s new opponent in Abu Dhabi, but the wait is over. One of the title contenders in the UFC middleweight division, Demian Maia confirmed via Twitter that he’ll get the title shot at UFC 112, on April 10.

TATAME.com is the first to talk with the BJJ ace after the confirmation. “I knew about it last night. I still can’t believe it. My manager called me and they asked if I wanted to fight for the belt. I said ‘of course, you don’t even have to ask it’”, Demian told.

Coming from a victory over Dan Miller at UFC 109, Demian will have two months to get ready and set a strategy for the most important fight of his life. “I’ll have time to prepare an strategy. I’m coming from a heavy training and I’m in a fight rhythm. I’ll let my body rest this week and I’ll start the training next week”.

“I still don’t know where I’ll train, but I’ll go train Boxing with (Luis Carlos) Dorea for sure. My physical preparation wlll be with (Rafael) Alejarra”, Demian revealed, confirmed the training with the Nogueira brothers Boxing coach and Wanderlei Silva’s ex physical trainer.

In the fight, indeed, Maia promises a lot of Jiu-Jitsu. “If I say to you that I’m gonna exchange with him I’ll be lying. It’s the same thing if I say he’ll go to the ground with me. But I’ll go to this fight ready for everything. It’s a title fight and the title always was my dream. I imagined having this title shot a year ago, but I had two more fights and God, for one reason, gave it to me now”, said.

Everybody waited for the UFC to announce Silva vs. Chael Sonnen to the title fight, also Demian. I think (Chael) Sonnen is not recovered from the fight against Nate Marquardt and won’t have time to get ready to this. They looked for the top guys and I was the choice”, finished the Brazilian. Stay tuned at TATAME.com for more news on UFC 112.

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Maia steps up to face Silva at UFC 112

guto — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:21:09 +0000

By Thomas Gerbasi UFC

Following a hard-fought three round win over Dan Miller at UFC 109 that showed him to be more than just a submission expert, Demian Maia will jump right back into training camp for the biggest fight of his career – an April 10th meeting with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 112 at Ferrari World on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

Maia replaces countryman Vitor Belfort, who underwent emergency surgery on his left shoulder earlier this week to fix a chronic injury that got worse in his training camp for Silva.

“It’s always tough when a top fighter like Vitor Belfort has to pull out of a big title fight, but we have found a high quality replacement,” said UFC President Dana White. “Top contender Chael Sonnen was not available due to injuries sustained in his fight with Nate Marquardt, so top six middleweight Demian Maia will step in to fight for the title. Maia is an Abu Dhabi grappling champion, a five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and he is 12-1 in MMA and coming off a win over Dan Miller at UFC 109. Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia will be a matchup between MMA’s best striker and MMA’s best grappler.”

A 32-year old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil who, like Silva, owns a black belt in jiu-jitsu, Maia (12-1) has won six of his seven UFC bouts, including five by submission, with four of those victories earning him Submission of the Night honors. He also holds a 2009 submission win over number one middleweight contender Chael Sonnen. In his most recent bout, at UFC 109 on February 6th, Maia went three rounds with talented New Jersey native Dan Miller and earned a near shutout unanimous decision. Now he will face the pound for pound king in Silva, who is unbeaten in ten UFC bouts and looking to add to his middleweight title defense record when he puts his belt on the line for the sixth time.

In the co-main event of UFC 112, lightweight champion BJ Penn looks to continue his dominant reign when he takes on Frankie Edgar. Also, two legends meet for the first time when future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes battles groundfighting master Renzo Gracie.