Live Report from UFC 112: Day 4
"Last night's training session was invigorating. The training room was crowded as usual, buzzing with a high level of adrenaline, excitement, and testosterone. The tension in the air was palpable and you could almost cut it with a knife. Everyone's demeanor was even more serious today because it is so close to fight time. UFC Middleweight contender Demian Maia did 5 rounds (5 minutes a piece) of boxing, wrestling, and BJJ. His striking game is looking better than ever. You can really see that he is 100% fit and ready to go. He told us that he worked mostly on wrestling and takedowns for his training camp. It makes sense since he is fighting the best striker in the MMA game in Muay Thai specialist and UFC World Champion, Anderson Silva. The last thing that Maia wants to do is to stand and strike with a Muay Thai guy like Silva. BJJ World Champion Xande Ribeiro is one of Maia's cornermen and was training Maia on the ground. The level of BJJ is insane when these 2 guys roll. They flow from position to position and submission to submission in lightning speed, especially since it is No Gi. UFC Heavyweight Antonio Nogueira dropped by and traded some knoweldge with us. Renzo Gracie did 8 rounds (5 minutes a piece) of striking and ground. His MMA guard game is truly phenomenal. He has some crazy tricks. UFC welterweight Ricardo Almeida rolled with Renzo and also practiced takedowns with him. Kru Phil Nurse (Georges St Pierre's Muay Thai coach) was also in the room as an observer. Anderson Silva was practicing Muay Thai in the other training room. He is a beautiful striker - very fluid and technical. Matt Hughes also trained in the other room. UFC Lightweight contender Frankie Edgar did not train last night. He sat and watched the training session, absorbing the knowledge exchange. Dos Anjos went light and we only did 3 rounds of 5 minutes. BJJ World Champion Romulo Barral also joined in the action and showed us some great triangle choke tricks.
I woke up bright and early today. The media and press started arriving in droves. When I went for breakfast, the hotel lobby was teeming with reporters and fans asking for interviews and autographs. Personally, I'm so excited for Dos Anjos that my mind has been racing non-stop. We've poured our hearts and minds into Dos Anjos. I've gone over our game plan in my head so many times now that I can visualize many parts of the fight. We have really done a lot of specific training for Terry Etim and his favorite techniques. I really don't see how Dos Anjos loses, except for a lucky kick or something by Terry Etim. Dos Anjos is going to shock Terry Etim with his Muay Thai and BJJ. Dos Anjos is a lot more explosive than Etim, possesses more speed, and hits much harder too. Etim is an excellent fighter because of his unusual body type. He's 6 feet 1 inch tall and fights at 155 lbs! He definitely can pose a lot of problems standing up and on the ground with his long limbs. However, from a pure Muay Thai technical level, Dos Anjos now has higher level and more technical Muay Thai than Etim. Kru Toy Sityodtong, Kru Nuengpichit Sityodtong and I have worked very hard to elevate Dos Anjos' Muay Thai game. He has improved in leaps and bounds. Of course, Dos Anjos still has a long way to go before his Muay Thai is considered excellent by our Sityodtong standards. However, for UFC standards, Dos Anjos has excellent Muay Thai now. Gordinho says that Dos Anjos' BJJ is better than ever. It has helped a lot for Dos Anjos to roll with all of our BJJ Black Belts at Evolve MMA every day. Zoro and Gordinho have the same height as Etim, but they weigh a lot more. So Dos Anjos has been rolling with body types similar to Etim, but only stronger, heavier, and more technical. In training camp, it is very important to simulate your opponent as much as you can. Dos Anjos says that this training camp has been the most complete training camp that he has ever had. All I can say is that we are 2 days away from the biggest fight of his young career and Dos Anjos is READY!!! Go Team Evolve!!!"
