Demian Maia Jiu Jitsu

UFC Fight Night 22 Tickets On Sale This Week

guto — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:38:59 +0000

Tickets for the UFC Fight Night 22, the UFC’s initial foray into Austin, Tx. in September, go on sale this week.

The event takes place Sept. 15 at the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas. Tickets for the event go on sale to the public this Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. The tickets are priced lower than usual, with cheap seats starting at just $30 and ranging up to $185 for the best seats available.

UFC Fight Night 22 is headlined by a middleweight bout between Demian Maia and Alan Belcher and will serve as the lead-in for the 12th season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The reality show featuring Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck as coaches is currently filming in Las Vegas.

Demian magazine in Finland

guto — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:06:03 +0000

Demian vs. Alan to Headline UFC Fight Night 22 in Austin

guto — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:37:44 +0000

Next UFC Fight Night event will go down September 15th at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The broadcast is expected to serve as the lead-in to the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck. Headlining the fight card will be Demian Maia — returning from his unsuccessful (and bizarre) five-rounder against Anderson Silva in Abu Dhabi — against fellow middleweight contender Alan Belcher, who is coming off back-to-back stoppages of Wilson Gouveia and Patrick Cote. As the press release tells us, “A victory over Maia will elevate Belcher’s chances for a shot at Anderson’s coveted middleweight crown.” Uh, I think you mean Sonnen’s middleweight crown, bro. The current lineup of “UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Belcher” is below. If you have any early predictions, let’s hear ‘em…

MAIN CARD (officially confirmed)
- Demian Maia vs. Alan Belcher (MW)
- Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig (LW; rematch of controversial UFC 115 fight)
- Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau* (LW)
- Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller (LW)

PRELIMINARY CARD (reported but not yet confirmed)
- Efrain Escudero vs. John Gunderson
- Nick Catone vs. Tomasz Drwal
- Kyle Kingsbury vs. Jared Hamman

http://www.cagepotato.com/demian-maia-vs-alan-belcher-headline-ufc-fight-night-22-austin

UFC Fight Night 22, Austin, Texas, US

Demian Maia trains for UFC on TATAME TV

guto — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:01:46 +0000

Demian Maia trains for UFC on TATAME TV Thursday 01st of July 2010 02:17 PM

Report and photo Eduardo Ferreira

Coming from a loss to Anderson Silva, the black belt Demian Maia wants to make a good comeback and do a great fight against the American Alan Belcher, and he is working hard for that. On a visit to Rafael Alejarra’s gym, we followed a train of physical preparation of UFC’s athlete for this bout, scheduled for September 15. “He’s without a doubt a tough guy, one of the tops of the division. For me it’s excellent to be back facing a guy of his level”, affirmed the Brazilian. Check below two exclusive videos from TATAME TV with the black belt athlete, who showed us his training and talked about the fight.

Demian Maia BJJ Seminar and Interview

guto — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:41:43 +0000

http://worldextremefighter.com/2010/07/01/demian-maia-brazillian-jiu-jitsu-seminar-and-interview/

By Brian Hemminger

A couple weeks ago I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see an elite Brazillian jiu jitsu practitioner teach first hand. I’ll start this by saying, I have never trained in the sport, the only information I know is information I’ve learned from repeated viewings of mixed martial arts fights and some educational youtube videos. That being said, I’m completely enchanted by it. The use of your body as leverage to defeat an opponent is just so different than most other forms of martial arts.

I had no idea what I was in for. When I found out Demian Maia was coming to town for a BJJ seminar, I asked the Premier Martial Arts contact Deon Thompson if it would be possible for me to observe the session and possibly get a chance to interview Maia afterwards, I received an emphatic yes.

When I arrived, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would Maia be at a podium talking? Would he be surrounded by a frenzied mob of students? This is what I saw as I walked in:

It was wall to wall people, with Maia showing them how to do a specific move, and then the attendees would practice it for a few minutes as Maia walked around checking their technique and offering pointers and encouragement. When I walked in, Deon Thompson motioned me over to meet Maia and I hastily made my way to the center of the mat to shake his hand. I got so caught up in the moment I forgot to take off my shoes, which is a big faux pas when it comes to Brazillian jiu jitsu. These people spend most of their time on those mats, so it’s very important to not bring possible contaminants to the surface. Literally, as I was meeting Maia for the first time, he looked down and said “hey, your shoes!” Whoops.

I removed my shoes and made my way to the side of the room so I could stay out of the way but still take it all in. Watching Maia work was fantastic. He’d start with a simple arm drag, then continue to a leg trip, ending with a double leg takedown into half guard. He was so fluid with his movements and explanations, it was like watching Picasso teach art class.

Maia went through a gauntlet of techniques, teaching half guard sweeps which transitioned to a heel hook, or multiple escapes from an opponent’s failed triangle attempt.

After over an hour and a half working with the gi, Maia opened up a Q&A session where students would ask questions about how to get out of specific situations and Maia always had an answer for them. No one could stump him, whether it was the 50-50 guard, getting guillotined during takedowns or simply further explaining techniques he had discussed earlier.

Afterwards, everyone transitioned into the no-gi style and Maia again showed some techniques that would work better without the gis. I found one absolutely fascinating, where Maia, from side control, would bait his opponent into sweeping forwards right into a triangle choke. It looked eerily similar to Maia’s victory over Chael Sonnen at UFC 95.

I asked him about it and he said “yes, similar but I did the same thing from mount instead of side control”

Maia went over a couple more techniques, one was obtaining mount from side control and transitioning into a slick armbar attempt

Lastly, he went over a technique I’d never seen before. One where he gained mount but faced the reverse direction. He would then put his opponents legs in a triangle at the knees, which would lock them together and give him no mobility. From that point you could put your opponent in a single or double kneebar and they would have no escape. Watching Maia work, it was obvious just how much more I need to learn about this beautiful sport. There is only so much you can absorb through observation of educational videos and countless fights, some things you have to literally experience yourself. After another 15 minute Q&A session, Maia took many pictures with the students and then sat down with me for a brief interview.

Brian Hemminger: Do you do these types of seminars often?

Demian Maia: Yes, I used to do them a lot but not as much lately since I’ve become so involved in MMA. I love doing them, getting to meet the fans, helping teach the students. This is a great experience for me. Also, you know, while teaching others, I’m fixing my own mistakes and continuing to improve as well. I love to teach and train, I’ve been working all over the US, especially in Chicago to improve my wrestling. Those guys have such great balance and they’re so strong. Working with them is really going to help take me to the next level.

Do you expect to compete in the next Abu Dhabi grappling tournament?

I definitely would like to. I got 2nd in the 2005 tournament, I won the 2007, but I had to pull out of the 2009 due to my MMA training. If things don’t get in the way, I hope I can compete.

On Anderson Silva..

Are you guys cool now after his disrespectful display during the title fight in Abu Dhabi?

You know, I never had a problem with him, before the fight, nothing. Now, with the way he acted during the fight, and the way he talked to me, yeah I don’t like him. We have some mutual friends, they know.

Did you think he was tired in those last two rounds?

Yes, he was definitely tired. That’s how I was able to hit him I think.

I loved your display of heart in the 5th round, have the fans responded well to you since your title loss?

Yes, the fans have been amazing. They love mentioning the 5th round when I was on my knees and throwing the punches. Honestly, I think I made more fans in that loss than I did in all of my wins combined before that.

On Alan Belcher…

You’ve continued to improve and focus on your striking in recent fights, do you think that you’ll want to make an effort to use your grappling more with your upcoming fight against Alan Belcher?

MMA is like a triathlon, you can’t just be good at one thing to win. You have to be good at them all. That being said, I do think I have the grappling advantage against Alan so I would love to get the fight to the ground.

Have you had a chance to study Belcher’s style yet, and if so, have you noticed any holes in his game you can exploit?

I requested the tapes of all his fights, but they haven’t arrived yet. I will definitely be looking at them with my team when they come in. I’m sure we’ll be able to find something, no one is perfect.

When the interview was over, I didn’t care if it wasn’t professional, I had to get an autograph. Who knows if I’ll get a chance to meet Maia again.

Tours Wanderlei Silva’s Gym In Las Vegas With Demian Maia

guto — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:13:21 +0000

In Las Vegas, TATAME TV visited the Wand Fight Team, Academy of Wanderlei Silva. By Demian Maia in the role of “tour guide”, TATAME TV shows all the details of the great training center of the ex-champion Pride.

Seminar in Washington on June 19th

guto — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:09:51 +0000

UFC Fight Night 22

guto — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:50:44 +0000

UFC Fight Night 22 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While not officially announced by the orgainization, it is expected to take place on September 15, 2010 in Austin, TX and lead in to the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 12. ^[1]

UFC Fight Night 22
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 15, 2010
Venue	TBA
City	Austin, Texas
Event chronology
UFC 118 UFC Fight Night 22 UFC 119

1. Background

Belcher was caught on tape repeatedly asking for a fight against Maia. It was then reported that Belcher received his wish and will fight Maia in the main event. Maia confirmed the bout with Belcher and location of Austin, Texas on the June 4, 2010 episode of Inside MMA. ^[2]

Tibau and Miller were originally set to fight at UFC Live on Versus 2, but the fight was moved to this card and is expected to be the co-main event.

Demian Maia Speaks Out About UFC 112 Fight

guto — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:06:30 +0000

(“I just wanted to take a minute to say that I was very impressed that Mr. Maia was willing to go on cable television and talk about Anderson Silva and their fight at UFC 112. It is a very rare occurrence that a fighter of Mr. Maia’s caliber is willing to answer the tough questions about such a hot topic, much less answer them on a national stage.

I was so intrigued by his candidness that I took the time to share his thoughts with the readers of BleacheRreport.com.

The article can be found here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/401973-demian-maia-speaks-out-about-the-spider-and-their-fight-at-ufc-112

On behalf of everyone with BleacherReport.com, I would like to wish Mr. Maia nothing but the best in his upcoming fight against Alan Belcher.

Best Wishes”)

Jason Schielke

Regional MMA Coordinator BleacheRreport.com

After nearly two months, the fight between Anderson Silva and Demian Maia from UFC 112 still remains a hot topic of debate. People are still debating who is to blame for the disastrous main event.

Maia was on Inside MMA this past Friday, alongside Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson. During this week’s episode, Maia stepped up, answered the tough questions, and gave his thoughts about why the fight went down the way it did.

Before Maia was given the chance to tell his side of the story, Inside MMA showed a feature where other fighters gave their opinion of the fight:

Frank Mir: “I felt there was disrespect towards Maia. I know Maia personally. I can’t imagine him upsetting anybody or saying anything bad about anybody. I think the reason why we’re all upset is because if [Silva] wanted to be a showman, just knock people out.”

Jason “Mayhem” Miller:”Yeah you know, [Silva] showed off and shucked and jived and whatever. But, you know, I think it was partially frustration. He figured he’d take Maia out. I don’t really fault him for that. He thought he was going to take him out, but he gassed out doing the cha-cha-slide, you know what I’m saying?”

Frankie Edgar:”I mean, I’ve heard all the hoopla and all that, but a lot of people give him slack for this and that, but as soon as he goes and knocks someone out, everyone will forget about it.”

Herschel Walker:”I don’t blame Anderson at all. What I gotta do is blame his opponent. Your opponent gotta take it to him. When Anderson was getting down, he should have attacked him.”

Matt Serra:”I don’t know what the hell was going on. [Silva] was doing good in the beginning, then it just got weird. I don’t know man, you tell me. What the hell was that?

Cung Le: “It’s not the first time I believe. I believe [Silva has] done that once or twice before, so, I don’t think it’s good for the sport.”

Robbie Lawler: “Well I didn’t really like the way he acted in the ring, but Demian gotta push the issue. If he doesn’t like it, do something about it.”

Dan Henderson: “It is unfortunate because [Silva] has a lot of talent and he just didn’t use it for whatever reason and I think it’s almost disrespectful to his opponent and the fans.”

Bobby Lashley: “I think that Anderson Silva is a great champion and I don’t see anything wrong with what he did. He went out there and had some great shots. And if you look at the fight afterward, Maia’s face is tore up. So he did piece him apart all the way through the fight. And like I said, if you’re fighting for the title, you have to go take the title from the champ.”

Trevor Prangley: “I think it was disgusting. I think it was disrespectful to Maia, and to the sport, and to the fans. I don’t think anyone paid to see that, you know what I mean. If you’re that much better than the guy, you should finish him fast and don’t go out there and try to make a fool out of him. I just think it’s very disrespectful.”

After Kenny Rice complimented Maia for listening to what other fighters thought, it was Maia’s turn to explain things from his point of view.

Please note, Maia’s comments have been cleaned up a bit to make it easier to read. After all, English is his second language.

The first question posed was “How do you feel about this now after a couple of months to let it all absorb?”

Maia answered “First of all, after I analyzed the fight, the first round, I was respecting him too much. I think it was because I thought ‘If the guy catches me with a punch, he’s going to knock me out.’ So I respected him too much. He didn’t engage too much, but he landed some good jabs and one kick or two.

“So in the third round, I start to go more and more to fight to try to get the belt. But I think I could have turned it up a little bit earlier. I think he was disrespectful not just because of his actions, but people in the United States, they don’t understand what he was talking.

“It’s OK if he does his clowning because it’s part of his game, but the problem was that he was talking s*** and bad things.”

Bas Rutten jumped in and asked “What was he saying?”

“He said a lot of, you know, bad things. I don’t want to even say. I don’t know why he was saying these things because I’ve never had any issues with him you know. Actually, we have many friends who are good friends of his and good friends of mine. We train together, but I never have had any problems with him.

“But I just think—before the fight he came to me and was like ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and it looks fake to me, you know. And Anthony [Johnson] was saying one thing, not about Anderson, but he said about one guy ‘OK, this guy talks bad s***, but he’s himself.’

“As long as you’re yourself, it’s OK, but I don’t like fake people. And for me he was just fake. He’s a fake humble guy, you know. He acts nice, and then he starts talking s***. Either he doesn’t know or he’s bi-polar; I don’t know. He doesn’t know why he does it.”

Kenny Rice then asked “So there was any history here, like with family or a personal thing other than the fight itself when he’s trash talking.”

“No, no. Before, a long time ago, I asked for a shot at the title. And then he started to get mad because I asked for a title shot. He said a real fighter should wait for the title, not ask for the title.

“But I think everyone wants the title. It’s normal; it’s your will to fight for the title. So I don’t think it’s a problem.

“Once in Brazil, they ask me, ‘Demian, what do you know about this fighter you are fighting?’ I was just kidding when I said, ‘Ah, you know, he’s the spider. Maybe I’ll take one of his limbs if I have the chance.’ That’s the worst thing I said but I was laughing, not saying it in a bad way.

“You can see Rashad and Quinton. They said a lot of bad things before the fight, but after the fight they hugged each other. Ya know, that’s fighting. It’s like they’re promoting the fight. We are not even promoting the fight like that and I didn’t feel like that before. I didn’t feel bad. If he is OK with me then we’re OK with each other.”

Kenny then asked Maia why he didn’t do anything while Silva was dancing around and taunting him.

“You know, I’m really cold when I fight. We worked on a strategy for when he starts dancing around. I even had training partners acting like that for me. My coaches said ‘When he start to doing that, don’t go at him like a crazy train because the fight will end like it did for Forrest [Griffin].’ He does that because he wants you to come at him because he’s a counter puncher. He’s very good counter puncher. He’s good attacking, but he’s much better when he’s countering.

“My coach knew for sure that he was going to start dancing and taunting, so he told me not to chase him. Wait for him to come. But like I said, I could have been a little bit more aggressive in the second round or beginning of the third round.

“And probably I landed some punches, but the worse thing was I broke my nose. I knew about it, but I just forgot and my eye was puffed. But yeah, the nose was a problem.”

Maia was then asked about how he felt about people talking about his fight and second guessing what he did, especially those with limited fighting experience.

“It’s OK, everybody can say whatever they want. Everybody is a fan also, not just a fighter, but a fan. And you can’t take what other people say seriously.

“I think it’s bad for the sport what he did, but it was a fight. I lost, and I really lost, but it was not exciting. Maybe the end was the most exciting part of the fight.”

Bas Rutten then brought up the hard punch that Maia landed in the fourth round and stated that he thought that Silva started backpedaling after that punch landed.

“I really felt my hand landing really hard; I almost broke my hand. So, I thought, ‘OK, now I’m going to start doing that.’

“The problem was I think he was a little bit tired and he didn’t want to engage because he was afraid, not to get punched too much I think, but more to get taken down.”

So one-half of this story is put to rest. Will Silva come out and ever truly explain his side of the story?

Personally, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Demian Maia Seminar, June 13, 2010

guto — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:12:12 +0000

On Sunday, June 13, 2010 from 12:30 pm until 3:30 pm

Demian Maia will be conducting a seminar in Naperville, IL

Seminar Location:

Overtime MMA
10 s 224 Schoger Rd.
Naperville, IL 60564

Seminar will be 3 hours (with approx. 1 ½ hours of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Gi) followed by approx. 1 ½ hours of grappling (No Gi) )

•Cost for individuals will be $90/person at the door, $80/person paid in advance by June 10

•Cost for groups of four or more people will be $70/person paid in advance by June 10

•Send checks made out to “Overtime MMA” to the address listed above OR

•Call the number below to pay by credit card or debit card

•For more information go to:

· Website: www.overtimemma.com

· E-mail: info@overtimemma.com

Download the Seminar Flyer (PDF Format, 3 MB)

View Photos from Last Year’s Seminar

JYRI and SARI: united by their passion for Jiu-jitsu!

guto — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:40:07 +0000

Exclusive Interview

The Athletes Jyri Manninen and Sari Laitinen, tell why they chose Brazil for its training Jiu-Jitsu. Devoting himself full time in the Training Center Demian Maia in Sao Paulo, had five months of intensive training, have made outstanding performances in Brazilian championships and won several medals.
In this weeks, This week they travel to the United States, where he will represent the Academy Demian Maia / Brasa in the World Championships in June in California, in search of more titles

Where they came from
Nature pure and quiet. Virgin forests and thousands lakes. Midnight sun in summer or winter crepúsculoLappi blue. The constant change of the seasons and the diversity of landscapes makes Finland a fascinating place – a quiet atmosphere with plenty of space. .

In Finland, modern country, design and cultural events are fascinating. Transportation and other public functions impeccably, leaving fond memories to those who visit.

In full summer, with temperatures around 23 º C, comprising the months of June, July & August. The water temperature of lakes rises above 20 ° C and decreases from mid-August. The more intense cold, lies to the months of January and February in the snow tends to be more abundant. The months of March and April have already milder temperatures, and with more sun and are great for snow skiing.

Finland is a world leader in education.The skills of adolescents Finns in mathematics, science and reading are classified as the best among the 40 associated countries, the most recent PISA study of OECD on school-age children worldwide. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial evaluation of students from 15 years in the major industrialized countries, organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD.

The interview

1. You met practicing Jiu-Jitsu in Finland? Tell a little history of each other.

Jyri - It’s true that we met training at the same academy in 2005 (GB-GYM, Helsinki – Finland), but at the time Sari was training kick-boxing. I had had my eye on her for awhile already, but the wuss that I am, it took me a long time to build up enough courage to make conversation with her. Eventually I surpassed my fears and turned out that she wasn’t that scary at all. Actually she was super cool person and I found it extremely easy to talk to her (was the first time this happened with a person of opposite sex!!). I would like to say that we fell in love, bought a house and a family car and lived happily ever after with five kids, but that’s not what happened. Because two months after we hooked up, I left to Brazil for the first time. I stayed eight months. But even during my trip we stayed in touch and Sari came to see me for two weeks in the middle of my stay. When I came back from my first visit to Brazil, we got together again, desided that we still like each other and have been together since. This was also the time when I made Sari realize that brazilian jiu-jitsu is the only true martial art and she swapped kick-boxing to BJJ.

Sari - That is about it how everything started. We trained one year at the same academy but only after that time we hooked up and went out on a date. Acctually this is about the same time Demian was having a seminar in Helsinki and he was also fighting in the MMA event Cage. I continued training kick-boxing until the spring of 2008. Then training started to feel a bit boring and I wanted to try something different. At our academy one can train Bjj, Kick-boxing, MMA, Muay-Thai and boxing, and I desided to go for Bjj. The choise was quite natural because Jyri was also training it at he could help me a lot. After a while I found my self in every Bjj traing I could possible be in.

2. When you decided to come to Brazil? Have you adapted quickly? Are you learning portuguese?

Jyri - Ever since I came back from my first visit to Brazil, I had a dream to come back. Together we started to plan the trip about two years before we eventually left. We worked a lot, started saving money, lived modest life and trained when we could. Always we had the goal – Brazil – in our minds.
I think, that a finnish person finds it easy to adapt into brazilian lifestyle. The food isn’t that different from our own and the people are great and helpful. The hardest thing to get used to is the lazy schedule the brazilians live. If training is scheduled to start at 11.00 it really starts at 11.30
I did two months of portuguese lessons in my first trip and after that I’v been trying to learn by listening and speaking. I think I can say that I can speak portuguese, I’m just not fluent – yet!

Sari – The tickets for our trip we bought in April 2009. I was looking for cheap flight-tickets in the US for our stay there during the Bjj Worlds that year, and by accident I found really cheap tickets to Rio. All we had to do was leave before the year 2010 and stay at least one month. That was perfect for us. After we had the tickets we were just waiting for the date 31.12.2009, the date for our departure.
As Jyri said it is really easy to adapt in to the Brazilian culture. I like the people here, the food is good, the weather is nice and warm (for most of the time) and I like the language also. I have learned some portuguese, but not as much as I would have liked. In the begining Jyri was teaching me some basics, but when we started to train really hard we did not have time or the energy to study. So I try to listen carefully what people say and how they say it and try to learn that way. The TV helps to. I watch programs in english and read the portuguese subtitles at the same time and learn some words that way. By the end of our trip I hope I have learned a lot more that I have now!

3. Why did you choose the Training Center Demian Maia?

Jyri - About five years ago Demian was giving a seminar in our academy in Finland. I got to know him a little then and I was totally sold by his technical jiu-jitsu. He made it seem so effortless and I wanted to learn that same jiu-jitsu. Thats when I did my first trip to Brazil and Demian Maia Academy. I think that back in those days there weren’t that many “gringos” around and my acceptance at the academy was awesome. I loved Brazil, São Paulo, the guys at the academy and the level of jiu-jitsu surpassed my wildest dreams. During my visit I got to know Demian better and nowdays I can call him a good friend. So to answer why we chose the Demian Maia Training Center? For us the choice was just natural.

4. How has been your training routine during these 5 months?

Jyri & Sari – First 3 months we dedicated our training to jiu-jitsu. We trained more or less twice a day, five days a week. Saturdays and Sundays we rested. This period was very important for us to adapt to the trainings and improve our technic. The level here is quite different from what we have in Finland. The last 2 months we’ve been training three times a day, twice jiu-jitsu + one supporting training (ex. functional, weightlifting, circuit-training), five days a week. In some weeks the championships have changed our routine, but that’s the basic how we have been training. It’s been quite a ride…

5. What about the Championships in which you participated, how did you do?

Jyri – I’v had my ups and downs. But to mention few, I fought in Paulista I etapa and got second in my weightcategory (superheavy) and third in the open weightcategory. I fight in purple belt category. In the CBJJE brazilian championships I won my category after 4 hard fights! Training hard starts to pay off!

Sari – I have participated many championships here in Brazil, because after all that is the best training I can get with someone who is the same size as me and somewhat at the same level. I just got my blue belt in February so I was really nervous how I would do. The first championship as blue belt, the Paulista, I had three fights and I won my category. I also competed in the Brasileiro in Sao Paulo. In my category (leve) there were just 3 girls. I had two fights and I won the championship. I compeeted also in SP Cup and the Paulista II etapa, but in these I lost my first fights.

6. How do you expect to do in the World Championships, in the United States?

Jyri – Well I haven’t been training this hard just to go there to have a holiday so my goal is to be world champion in the weightcategory and preferably in the open weightclass also.

Sari – Both of our expectations are really high because we have worked so hard. My goal is also to win my own category. I’m not taking part in the absolute.

7. After the championship, you come back to Brazil? What plans for your career?
Jyri – Yes we are coming back to Brazil and plan to keep on training, but maybe not so hard as we trained our first half of the trip. After the mundials is time to relax a little bit and try to improve technicly as much as possible. As for the career… If everything goes as planned, you never know, there might be a chance to turn a hobby and a lifestyle into living. But to make a living out of martial art in Finland is very very very difficult. Let’s see what happens…

Sari – I have not accually thought about Bjj as a career, I think that is more something for Jyri. BUt if he continues with this as he would want to, then maybe it could be a familybusiness??

8. When you go back to Finland you plan to keep on training Martial Arts?

Jyri – Jiu-jitsu is a lifestyle for me and whatever happens in my life it will be a part of my life, one way or another.

Sari – Absolutely! It is so good for you, both physically and mentally.

9. Professionally, you want to live out of Sports? Do you intend to return to Brazil? Do you intend to have children??

Jyri – My dream is to be able to live out of jiu-jitsu. Teaching own students, fighting in the championships, give seminars all over the world and I’m working really hard to achieve that dream. But like I said before, in Finland that is very hard. But lets see, maybe we don’t stay in Finland for the rest of our lives. To Brazil I’ll come always when I have the chance. Not just to see my good friends and have fun, but to sharpen my jiu-jitsu and learn the nevest tricks in the game. And preferably I’d come with all my 5 kids (4 boys and 1 girl) that I’m planning to do!

Sari - Back home I worked with children, that the socialwellfare had placed in a fosterhome. The most important tool in our job was sports. The kids train Judo at least twice a week, they like to go to the gym and also do a lot of other sports. And we did everything together. I like the job especially because I did not have to sit in an office and stare at a computer 8 hours.
I hope that we can come back to Brazil, hopefully already next year or in the near-future. And as Jyri said we will come with the whole family

10. On behalf of the Academy Demian Maia, I want to express our thanks for the interview, and say that we are very proud of your presence, and that you are always very welcome. Good luck in your career, it certainly will be bright. See you soon!

Jyri & Sari – No, thank you. Everything we have achieved in the last few months is only because of the Demian Maia Academy!

Jyri Manninen - Sari Laitinen

Watch Jyri Manninen’s fights videos

The site OLutador.com found in the archives photos of Sari and Jyry in action

((( cliqck here )))

Graduation: Sari received a blue belt from the hands of master Demian Maia

Demian Maia, Sari Laitinen e Jyri Manninen

To learn more about Finland visit:
Embassy Finland in Brazil
Exclusive Interview for Guto Maia,
communications adviser
and Managing Director of the
Academy Demian Maia Jiu-Jitsu Brazil

Demian Maia Autograph Session at MMA Expo / USA

guto — Sun, 30 May 2010 06:30:16 +0000

Demian Maia vs Alan Belcher in September 15

guto — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:26:44 +0000

Demian Maia (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) vs Alan Belcher (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC), in UFC Fight Night 22 in September.

In San Diego with friends

guto — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:42:13 +0000

In San Diego ready for my boxing training with my coach Dorea, @minotouroMMA , Valente, Thiago, Elder and Serge

Demian Maia: “I’m crazy to get back”

guto — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:02:51 +0000

in TATAME

By Guilherme Cruz

Photo Josh Hedges

A little more than one month after losing in the title fight against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, UFC fighter Demian Maia is back to the trainings. After a short season in Hawaii, he is focused and thirsty for a comeback to UFC’s octagon. “It’s great there. I spent four wonderful days, but everything has come back to normal. I came back to the light trainings two weeks ago. On this week I already got a new training schedule, as if I had a fight coming”, said the black belt to TATAME, excited about the return. “I’m crazy to get back”.

Demian still does not know his new opponent, but analyzes probable candidates. “The division is mixed, there are five or six top fighters. Between those guys, they have to see who has a scheduled fight and who doesn’t, so that they can arrange a fight for me. This math is complicated, it always takes a while”, explains Demain, believing his next opponent can be Alan Belcher, Michael Bisping, Yoshihiro Akyiama or Vitor Belfort. “They didn’t say a thing, but all of those are great and top athletes. I believe Vitor will recover from the (shoulder) injury and fight Anderson, but they are all likely to fight against me”, concluded.