"I knew the first loss would come one day because I intend to fight for many years. As a matter of fact, though, it happened in a pretty unexpected manner because I was a little bit casual in the stand-up fight. I repeated two kicks. He got my timing down, and, the third time, he came with a straight punch and knocked me down. At the beginning of the fight, everyone is really strong, and I think the referee was right to stop the fight. I stood up well. I had no damage, and that’s most important … But a punch to the chin, like the one I took at the beginning of the fight, is probably the only defeat you cannot make comments about. I cannot complain about anything. Now, I just have to stand up, train hard and be ready for the next challenge."

- Former undefeated middleweight contender Demian Maia talks to Sherdog.com about suffering through his first career loss against Nate Marquardt this past weekend at UFC 102. Prior to the loss, Maia defeated his first five UFC opponents and was on the cusp of a middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva, however, Marquardt put a halt to his title aspirations just 21-seconds into the first round of their scheduled 3-round affair.

Maia still holds an impressive MMA record of 10-1, with an astounding 8 of his wins coming via submission. He holds notable wins in his career over the likes of Fabio Nascimento, Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, Nate Quarry and Chael Sonnen. In related news, Maia was slated to compete at the 2009 ADCC grappling Tournament in September, however, he has decided against that now, opting instead to take some time off.