Demian Maia shut down the pressure and won again in UFC, dominating another Brazilian, Jorge Santiago, via points. On the following day of his triumph, the BJJ black belt talked to TATAME and analyzed his win and, among other subjects, talked about meeting Chael Sonnen on the backstage and the evolution of the polemic athlete at the BJJ area. “He’s training Jiu-Jitsu, it’s obvious. He went for his back, tried to fit a punch not only to hit him, but to grab him”, compliments Demian, who has submitted Sonnen before, also commenting on a possible rematch between Chael and Anderson Silva. Check it:
Did everything go like you were planning it to? What was your game plan?
Yeah, it did... The strategy was to bring home the win. My idea was to take him down safely, because he used a lot his knees, and make it work on the floor, evolve within the positions. I’ll always try to find my way out on the ground, but with no rush.
He hit you with a knee when you tried to take him down. Did it get you?
I don’t remember it… I was training a lot the counterattacks to that knee of his.
Did you feel any pressure due to the fact you loss on your last bout, or do you believe the pressure was on Santiago, who had returned to UFC with a loss?
I wasn’t worried about him, I was worried about me, of course. Sure I was under pressure, even because I had done a tight fight against a tough opponent.
What’s next?
Actually, who’s working on that is my manager Eduardo (Alonso). I want to rest a while because it was a lot of pressure. He’s a tough guy who is a former Sengoku champion and did the best fight of the year last year… I had to beat him.
I’ve heard you and Sonnen were on the same locker. How was it like?
Yeah, we did... I met him many times before and it wasn’t any different, he was respectful. I have no troubles with him. I know it’s all a marketing plan, he’s trying to sell his fights. Each one of us was warming-up, with our minds on our bouts.
And he applied a submission. What are your thoughts about his Jiu-Jitsu skills?
He’s training Jiu-Jitsu, it’s obvious. He went for his back, tried to fit a punch not only to hit him, but to grab him, and got him.
There was a joke about you training together and he said he would like that...
It was a joke, it ain’t serious (laughs). We fight on the same division, we could fight each other, so there’s no reason why. He’s a really tough guy, a guy to be defeated on this weight division. He likes talking a lot, but he’s tough. Anyone in this division would have a tough fight against him.
The next on the line can be Anderson... How do you see this rematch?
I guess Anderson would be harder to submit on the ground than Stann, because Anderson trains with experts, but Chael doesn’t depend on the submission, he can work on the ground and pound. He’ll be training his takedown defenses so he doesn’t get in trouble like it happened to him before.
via:Tatame
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