10 Questions for Demian Maia

After he was knocked out in 21 seconds by Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 in August, Demian Maia turned to training in order to keep his name near the top of the middleweight ranks.

Scheduled to face former International Fight League champion Dan Miller at UFC 109 “Relentless” on Feb. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Maia spoke exclusively to Sherdog.com during a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There, he discussed his loss to Marquardt, his future in the Octagon, a potential matchup with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and training with top middleweight contender Vitor Belfort and the fast-rising Junior dos Santos.

Sherdog.com: How are you preparing for the upcoming fight against Miller?
Maia: It’s been excellent. This time, I spent more than a month in Bahia training my boxing with Junior ‘Cigano’ [dos Santos]. Actually, we also trained a lot of jiu-jitsu everyday. I was really surprised with the excellent ground fighters in Bahia, mainly without the gi. I already knew that Bahia had the best boxers in Brazil. There, you are able to train with a South American champion and Pan American silver medalist. The level in Professor Luiz Dorea’s academy is pretty high, and that was an amazing experience. I have to thank Cigano a lot, as he picked me up every day to train. He’s an amazing person who deserves everything he has achieved.

Sherdog.com: Did the Nogueira brothers help you out there?
Maia: Sure. Actually [Antonio] Rodrigo [Nogueira] was the one who took me to Bahia. For the first weeks, I stayed at his apartment. Later, I decided to rent my own place. He and [Antonio] Rogerio [Nogueira] went there, too. Of course, they arrived a little bit later than we agreed -- he missed a couple of flights (laughs) -- but we had the opportunity to train together.

Sherdog.com: What do you know about Miller, and what do you expect from this fight at UFC 109?
Maia: Actually, I saw two of his fights on YouTube; his DVD was supposed to arrive last week by mail but did not. I want to see all his fights to prepare myself well. I know that he is a pretty skilled guy -- well rounded. He is dangerous with submissions and probably is the best ground fighter I’ve ever faced in MMA.

Sherdog.com: You made a statement on the Combate Channel on Brazilian television, where you said you were not knocked out by Nate Marquardt at UFC 102. That statement caused a lot of controversy on the Portal do Vale Tudo forum. Could explain what was behind your comments?
Maia: I meant that, from what I understand about knockouts, you fall down unconscious and stay unconscious for at least a few seconds. It doesn’t change anything for me. A defeat is a defeat; doesn’t matter if it’s by points or by submission. When I said that, I didn’t want to take anything away from Nate. No way. When I was on the way to the ground, I was unconscious, but as soon as I landed, I recovered my consciousness. If it was under boxing rules, it would have been a knock down. Actually, I just did a technical analysis of my defeat, but I never tried to minimize my defeat.

Sherdog.com: The fans praised Nate’s attitude and restraint. He showed good sportsmanship when you went down unconscious, don’t you think?
Maia: I agree, but I think it had two sides. You also have to consider his experience as a fighter. If he had kept punishing me, I could have woken up, grabbed his legs and survived. There’s no doubt about Nate. Besides being an amazing fighter, he is also an excellent person. I have nothing else to say about him. I think at some point I’ll have the chance to face him again. I’m sure that day will come, so I’m really not worried about it.

Sherdog.com: Nate will fight Chael Sonnen the same night you fight Miller. What do you expect from this fight, since you’ve beaten Chael and lost to Nate?
Maia: I think that’s a pretty curious fight, hard to predict. Nate has an excellent game, more complete than Chael, but Chael has a pretty complicated game that’s hard to beat. I think Chael has evolved a lot. If he can impose his ground-and-pound game, he can win.

Sherdog.com: You started training MMA a long time ago as a sparring partner of Vitor Belfort. What you do expect from his fight against Anderson Silva?
Maia: This fight is a big mystery. Both trained boxing with [Luis] Dorea. I asked many people in the academy, and everybody tells me they can’t predict what’s going to happen. The consensus is that if Belfort explodes at the beginning, he has a chance for the knockout, but most people believe more in Anderson if the fight goes past the first round. That’s what I heard most people saying. I’ve never trained with Anderson, but I’ve already trained with Belfort, and I can say he is very complete and certainly one of the biggest talents ever in Brazilian MMA. His only weakness is his mind, but, lately, he hasn’t shown any psychological weakness. I think Belfort is more complete physically and technically than Anderson, but Anderson is always 100 percent psychologically. So, for sure, it’s an unpredictable fight.

Sherdog.com: Now that you are training with dos Santos and the Nogueira brothers -- the team Anderson Silva is a part of -- how do you view a possible fight with Silva in the near future?
Maia: I always say that defeat has a terrible side, but it also has a good side. And for sure the good side is that I always wanted to train with Rodrigo and his team. I always avoided that, even when Rodrigo said there was no problem, because I knew that it would be a bad situation for “Minotauro.” For one, he is great friends with Anderson. I know Rodrigo is a nice guy who always wants to please everybody; I already talked about that with him. If Anderson really retires in three or four fights like he says he will, I think it will be very difficult to face him. But if we have to fight, it wouldn’t be a problem; actually, it would be an honor for me. He is friends with many friends of mine. Today, the sport is 100 percent professional, and we cannot predict what’s going to happen. I cannot stop training with great friends because maybe there is a possibility for me to face Anderson. Rodrigo opened his doors to me. I don’t know if Anderson liked that or not, but Rodrigo and Wanderlei [Silva] have always been my great idols in MMA, and I can’t miss the opportunity to train with them.

Sherdog.com: Speaking of Wanderlei, your physical trainer, Rafael Alejarra, is not working with him in Las Vegas anymore. Actually, Rafael opened his own gym in San Diego. How would you describe your relationship with Wanderlei and Alejarra?
Maia: I’m going to San Diego to train with Alejarra. My relationship with Wanderlei didn’t change anything. He is a great friend. I talked to him last week and made it clear to him that his breakup with Alejarra will not influence our friendship. I made it clear to him that his situation with Alejarra and my relationship with him and Alejarra were two separate things. Actually, I invited him to be in my corner. Rodrigo also has a great relationship with Wanderlei. When he goes to Vegas with Cigano or Rogerio, he always trains at Wand’s academy, so nothing changed.

Sherdog.com: Can you send a message to jiu-jitsu fans, many of whom consider you their number one representative in MMA?
Maia: With all this time off, I’ve been training really hard for my return. One very good thing has happened. Since my time with Fabio Gurgel, I haven’t had a jiu-jitsu trainer. Now, I’ve invited Wagner Motta, and he is doing a great job with me. I’m feeling my jiu-jitsu evolve a lot. Of course, I trained a lot of boxing and wrestling because we’re in modern MMA, but everything that I train is always to put Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the highest place.