Demian Maia
Striking isn't just about kicking and punching. It's far more complex than that. It's also about timing and range.
Playboy in Brazil is like a rich boy, but I've never been a rich boy. My family is not rich. Actually, I help all my family.
I started training judo when I was 5 years old. I didn't know much. My mom just took me and my brother to do some judo because we were very energetic. We did that for a couple of years. I don't know why we stopped, but I came back to try other forms of martial arts like kung fu and karate when I was 12 and never stopped.
I had my first professional fight was in 2001 in Venezuela - it was also my first international trip away from Brazil. It was a great experience. Then in 2005, I went to Finland and won. The next year there was a tournament in Brazil with three fights in one night. I was the underdog and won all three fights.
I want to show in a violent sport like our sport, you don't need to hurt anybody in order to win.
I want to be remembered as a guy who goes out and represents the art of jiu-jitsu.
Submitting is always the most important thing to me. Victory first, but with a submission is what I always want.
Seminars, TV shows, documentaries, always spreading Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I'm an instrument of this art more than a character myself.
Fights are fights. It's a cliche, but it's true, you can never know how they'll go down for sure until you do it.
Jiu-jitsu fighters usually have an advantage in longer fights even though MMA has breaks between rounds.
In general, I think longer fights benefits jiu-jitsu fighters because the other guy can make mistakes.
To me, when you're not as hungry to train hard and learn new things and get better as you once were, I think it's time to stop.
I went to college. I did that but I worked at the same time, and I trained.
I was never a playboy, you know? But it's easy to say that because it's just a stereotype. 'OK, this boy did college so he must be a playboy.'
When I was 16, we get kicked out of our house because my mother and my father were separated, so we didn't have money to pay. We got kicked out and had to live with my grandmother, sleeping in the living room, for many years.
When I started to strike a lot back in the days I lost a little bit my jiu-jitsu. It's normal.
Things can change quickly in the UFC. I lost to Nate Marquardt in my first loss as a middleweight and then I defeated Dan Miller and fought for the title against Anderson Silva.
Marketing is everything.
I think that people believe in lies and they repeat the lies so many times that the people start to believe, 'ah, Demian is not fighting for the title because he doesn't sell.'
When I watched the first fight between Woodley and Thompson, and I want to make clear that I really admire both guys, for me the fight was really boring at UFC 205 because nobody pulled the trigger for three rounds. The fourth round there was a scramble and that was really exciting, but then the fifth round was so-so again.
I know my mission is not just to be a champion, I mean, being champion would be great and I want to be one, but it's not under my control, you know.
I believe in my jiu-jitsu.
I come to grapple.
All of my fights, I try to end the fight. That's my style.
When I fight, nobody boos. Everybody likes it. Everyone cheers for me. I'm happy about that, because I'm one of the guys who is putting the grappling and jiu-jitsu on the level where people are interested in the technique. I can get people excited about it.
I don't like winning in a violent way.
The striking game is always a lottery game, so I prefer to take the safe situation. Submission is the best for me. I'm the guy looking for it all the time.
It's hard to be in the UFC one year.
Don't get me wrong - I love going to academy every day and training as hard as I can; I love to learn. But I have other plans. When you are in the UFC, you gotta save 80 percent of your time for that. I want to do other nice stuff, other things that give me pleasure also.
When I see wrestlers fight, they train a lot of boxing because they don't want to end up on bottom.
People always go to the ground with me trying to just hold me. They stall and wait for the referee to stand them back up so they can start it all over.
If we fought like the old days, with no time limit, it would be better to work. We only have five minutes to work per round so it's complicated, especially because everybody knows that my ground game is good.
I think sometimes the fighters aren't very clear on things, and even myself, I'm a fighter, a lot of fighters make mistakes about working their image and how they market themselves.
Sonnen, to me, he's a great athlete, but he created that image so much for himself that people don't think he's that good. They just think he talks. So I think it's a risk you run when you do that.
The day I stop aiming for the title, I will stop fighting.
I think I adapted well for MMA.
Everything I did in my life was about the title, but that's too much pressure over me. When I relaxed more, even my performance became better.
I was always very, very focused, just thinking about the title.
Sometimes I don't talk too much, that's myself, but I truly believe I can be the champion. I feel, I can visualize that.
Jiu-jitsu teaches you not to hurt your opponent, and that's inside of me.
I'm a jiu-jitsu guy and that's my root.
I will always go for the submission instead of hurting my opponent.
That's why I love jiu-jitsu, this is the best martial art in the world. It's an art that seeks the peace, to dominate your opponent.
A lot of people came up to me and said you need to trash talk. That's not me.
I'm not going to sell myself just because I want to be a champion, just because I want to make more money, you know?
I don't sell myself. I am what I am. I'm a role model for a lot of people, for my kids. I don't want to just change because I want to make more money.
I know I have a lot of fans, and it's a big mistake try to please everybody.
When you get asked if you want the title, you really need to push for that. That's why I want to do it my style, not do it so loud, but I want to fight for the title.
For the title, I would do anything.
For the title, if they say, 'Ok, let's sit and wait,' I will sit and wait because I know it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.