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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"I needed to be reborn. I felt when I was hitting guys or going for a takedown at 185, sometimes it was like hitting a wall. Now in this weight division, it's more fair for me... [Jon Fitch is] able to mentally break his opponents because his will is big. There' are other wrestlers with big wills, but I think he has one of the biggest wills. So you need to be aware because he comes to break you... Now that I learned I'm able to do well with boxing, I was able to train more jiu-jitsu again. I've come back to my grappling. My dream is to take the fight down in the first minute and submit Fitch. That's my dream and I hope it comes true."
-Demian Maia talks to ESPN.com about his UFC 156 bout with Jon Fitch and getting back to his jiu jitsu game in his two fights at welterweight.
Penick's Analysis: There's been a significant difference in his approach to his fights at welterweight than his last series of bouts at 185. Part of that is due to more of a strength advantage than he had in the middleweight field, which led to a lot more stalemate action against tougher, stronger grapplers. There's the potential for that here, but if he comes in and takes out Fitch in quick fashion, it will be massively impressive, and will move him very close to a title fight in the welterweight division.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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