Demian Maia (21-6) kommer ifrån en submissionvinst över Neil Magny (15-4) på UFC 190. Nu berättar han om hans utveckling som fighter.
Maia använde slag för att skapa öppningar för sina submissions, något som han berättar att han tränat på.
“It’s just something that I was developing,” Maia told MMAjunkie following his victory. “My last fight, against (Ryan) LaFlare, I wasn’t hitting too much when I was in dominant position. I knew if I was able to hit a little bit harder my opponent would open space. I couldn’t do it in the last fight but this fight I trained for it and it worked.”
Om Maia skulle få möta Robbie Lawler (26-10-0-1) skulle han försöka få ner Lawler på mattan, istället för att boxas med Lawler då Maia känner att han inte har lika stor kraft i nävarna som Lawler har.
“(The fight would be) pretty tough,” Maia said. “Of course, he’s tough. He’s experienced, he’s not young. He has a lot of experience. What he did to Rory (MacDonald at UFC 189)? Rory’s great. I fought him, I know he’s great. And he was winning the fight and Robbie was able to pull the win in the last round. Robbie is a guy with big heart, he’s hard to take down, heavy hands, he deserves to be a champion. I wish I can fight him one day for the title.”
“In my case (the ground is) the only way,” Maia said. “I’m not going to exchange punches. His hands are too heavy. You see what he did in his last fight. He’s tough. He has a big heart and it’s hard to take him down. But if I’m able to take him down I know I can win. I can do that to pretty much anyone in the division.”
