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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
When Demian Maia burst onto the UFC stage in 2007, he quickly became a must-watch competitor with a dangerous and unflappable ground game. He scored five straight submission wins over his first year and a half, including a fantastic trip takedown to triangle choke over Chael Sonnen that had him nearing title contention when he met Nate Marquardt in 2009.
But something changed after that fight. He was knocked out in spectacular fashion just 21 seconds, and realizing he needed to improve his striking game, set about doing just that. But his decision to start focusing on his striking game led him astray from his ground game, and after that string of submission wins he went to the judges' scorecards in his next seven fights in a row.
However, Maia's gotten back on track with his ground game since dropping to the welterweight division, and in an interview with MMAJunkie.com this week, he talked about what pulled him away from his best attributes.
"I think when you're training MMA, it's a new sport," Maia said. "People like myself come from one area, one martial art, and we need to improve on our other areas. So we're training a lot in these other sports, like in my case on my boxing. Of course, you start to get sharper in that sport, but in the previous one you lose a little bit."
"The main thing is when you're fighting, you do what you were training. So if you're training boxing and you're thinking, 'Yeah, but I'll fight with my jiu-jitsu,' it's not going to happen because it's something that happens subconsciously. You're going to fight like you've been training. Even if a good boxer is training a lot of jiu-jitsu for a fight, he's going to want to grapple."
Maia's gotten back to that since his drop to 170, and next up he's got a fight against former title challenger Josh Koscheck.
"I think he's a great fighter, and he'll be a great test for me," Maia said. "I think if I want to fight Georges St-Pierre or Johny Hendricks – whoever is champion after they fight – both of them are great wrestlers, so I need to pass this test. I mean, I've fought good wrestlers like Rick Story and Jon Fitch and Dong Hyun Kim, a judo guy, but Koscheck was a really top-level wrestler.
"I was training at an academy in Chicago, and they had pictures on the walls of wrestlers in the newspaper, and one of those pictures was Josh. He's a top-level guy. As a fighter, I see this as a very big test, and I need to pass this test."
That fight could eventually lead to a title fight, but for now he's focusing on keeping true to himself and his background as a Brazilia jiu jitsu fighter.
"It's great to be representing Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the UFC," Maia said. "When I go in the Octagon to fight, I'm truly thinking like a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter. I feel like I have the support of the community, so I feel like I'm fighting for something bigger than just going in there to be an athlete. I'm representing a martial art that has changed many people's lives."
Penick's Analysis: Maia's seemed rejuvenated and definitely back to his roots at 170 lbs., and it's been great to see him working that ground game as well as he had in the past. This fight with Koscheck still doesn't make the most sense given their respective recent trajectories in the division, but it's a chance for him to continue the run he's had since dropping down. If he can beat Koscheck, and presumably a top five to ten guy next, he'll be on that track to a title fight.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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