After only four years and seven months, UFC middleweight contender Demian Maia earner his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Gurgel. In his short time of training, he went on to win some of the most prestigious grappling tournaments including the 2005 CPJJO Cupa Del Mundo and the 2007 ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships. After only six fights into his mixed martial arts career, Maia signed with the UFC, and after winning six of his seven fights, went on to headline the UFC's first event in the Middle East . Maia went on to challenge for Anderson Silva's middleweight belt at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier this week we had a chance to speak with Demian Maia by phone from his gym in Sao Paulo, Brazil - the Demian Maia Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Here is what he had to say:

Cage Religion: How did you get your start in combat sports, Demian?

Demian Maia: When I was a kid, the first contact I had with martial arts was doing Judo when I was four years old or so, then I started to do jiu-jitsu and I never stopped.

CR: After earning your black belt in jiu-jitsu in just under five years, you've gone on to become one of the most decorated and well-respected practitioners today. What was your proudest moment in regards to your jiu-jitsu achievements? 

DM: I think for me it was the 2005 World Cup when in the finals I beat Ronaldo Jacare who is fighting in Strikeforce right now. The second is when I won the Abu Dhabi championships in 2007.

CR: How does your jiu-jitsu for competition differ from using it in MMA?

DM: I think not that much. Pretty much the things I used in competition and the things I use in MMA are the same for me.

CR: You went on to open the Demian Maia Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Tell us a little bit about that.

DM: I opened the academy in Brazil in 2005 but nowadays actually, I'm there everyday training but the problem now is I don't have time to teach. All of my training now, it's hard so I have three of my students there teaching. The academy is doing well. There's a lot of people there training and it's good because I have all of my jiu-jitsu partners there to train with.

CR: You were signed to the UFC after only six fights. How intimidating, if at all, was it fighting on the biggest stage in MMA so early on in your fighting career?

DM: No, I think some people, they come to the UFC with less than six fights even. For me, I've been competing since I was a teenager so if you think of it like you're going to another competition, you're not going to get scared. Of course when you start getting bigger and bigger and getting title shots there's more pressure, but I think I do well with that.

CR: You went on to win six of your next seven fights in the UFC, earning a middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 112. Being considered a heavy underdog, how much does something like that weigh on you before a fight?

DM: No, no, never. Look at Shogun, he was the underdog and he knocked out Lyoto in the first round. It really doesn't matter, ya' know, because when you get there you never know what's going to happen. I knew that if I could put him down I was going to get a good chance and I knew that with my stand up, I could do okay with him. I think the thing was, it took too much time for me to get into the fight. He wasn't doing anything. He hit me with some good jabs and leg kicks but he wasn't doing too much. I think I started to get more into the excitement of the fight too late, near the end of the third round. Ya' know, if I would have started in the second round I maybe could have changed some things.

CR: You headlined the UFC's first event in the Middle East at UFC 112 against Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. Can you put into words how that felt?

DM: It was great! It's great to be in the main event for a title fight in the UFC, ya' know. Many people work so hard to have the chance to fight for a title and never have it happen and it happened for me in Abu Dhabi at a UFC event. Very nice, but it was upsetting for me that I didn't win, especially at one point thinking the fight was not too good. I think in the end I did well.

CR: Being the UFC's first outdoor event, did the heat and humidity in Abu Dhabi have any effect on your game plan at all?

DM: You know, in Brazil we're always training outdoors - we don't have air conditioning. The big difference was normally when you're fighting indoors, it takes a little more time to sweat and you also dry faster. Outdoors, you know, we are all very sweaty so it makes it harder to get the good finish.

CR: During the fight, Anderson mocked you and show-boated through most of the bout. How difficult was it to remain composed and not rush in?

DM: No, because I knew he was going to do something like that, I knew he was going to do that kind of thing. All of my training focuses on keeping my concentration and not going crazy, you know, because he's a counter puncher and does counter attacks. I think he did a little bit bad for the sport. You know, he was dancing and doing this stuff. If he wanted to do something, he should have come and tried to knock me out instead of dancing and doing that stuff. You know, when you land punches and kicks that's fine, that's good, but when you're just dancing, that's nothing. It doesn't mean anything.

CR: Like you said, during the later rounds you started to strike more with him, exploding and tagging him on a few occasions. If you were to get another shot at Anderson Silva, would you choose to stand more with him?

DM: Yeah, I think so. Of course my plan was to take him down but when I saw it was hard, I started to punch more with him to create more chances for the takedowns. The mistake I made was to start too late. At one point when I started to clinch with him and land some punches that he felt in the fifth round, I saw that he felt it and I think he got a bit tired also, that's why he was backing up. Maybe if I started earlier, punching more with him and landing more punches, he would have come forward and I was going to be there to take him down.

CR: You mentioned the Shogun v.s. Machida fight earlier. What are your thoughts on the fight and did you expect Shogun to end it in such dominating fashion?

DM: You know, Shogun is a good friend of mine. When he was fighting Chuck [Liddell] he trained at my academy for about eight weeks and I like him very much. His brother Maurilo too. Actually, before this fight with Anderson, they invited me out to Curitiba to train with them but I was already set up with my camp. I couldn't go but I thought that was pretty nice of them. I knew Shogun could win though because for me, he is the best in the division. He is the most well-rounded, accomplished fighter in his division - good jiu-jitsu, good Muay Thai, he has good wrestling. If he keeps training hard, I think he will be very dominant. He's a guy who won in Pride and won in the UFC and sometimes you can lose your concentration but I think if he keeps training hard, he will be great!

CR: What's next for Demian Maia?

DM: You know, keep training hard like I do, keep training my boxing and my takedowns. Keep training my jiu-jitsu and keep fighting in the UFC to get more experience and one day get a chance to fight for the title again and not miss this chance.

CR: Will you continue to train your striking with Wanderlei Silva in the future?

DM: When I go to Vegas, I train with him. The thing was, my conditioning coach is not training here in Brazil anymore, he moved to San Diego so when I go to the States I come out there. We're not training together so much anymore but when I go out to Vegas in a couple of weeks, I'll probably train with him.

CR: Before we go, is there anything you would like to say to your fans all around the world?

DM: I would like to thank the fans that are very supportive of me, especially after this last fight, I got a lot of calls, e-mails, everything. When I left the fight I was sad because I lost but at the same time, ya' know, everybody expects to eventually lose one day. People respect me a lot after this fight and that was a nice thing because we worked very hard for that.

CR: I just wanted to thank you again, Demian, for taking the time to speak with CageReligion.com!

DM: Anytime, anytime.