Demian Maia will be looking to start the difficult climb back to the top when he faces Alan Belcher in his first fight since losing a title bid against Anderson Silva at UFC 112.

Maia (12-2) had a strong start to his UFC career, going 5-0 in the Octagon and collecting Submission of the Night honors on no less than four occasions, including his win over current middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen at UFC 95. Recently, however, Maia has struggled, losing two of his last three fights, and has been unable to showcase the jiu-jitsu skills that make him such a dangerous opponent on the ground. 

Maia stepped in on short notice to face Silva at UFC 112 after Silva's original opponent, Vitor Belfort, had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury. Although that fight represented a great opportunity for Maia, it was also one that came with a lot of risk, and after suffering a frustrating loss he found himself joining a long list of fighters who have come up short against "The Spider."

Now Maia expects to return to face Belcher (16-6) at UFC Fight Night 22 on September 15.  Maia has nothing but praise for Belcher, who has won four of his last five fights and is coming off a Submission of the Night victory himself over Patrick Cote at UFC 113.

"I haven't signed anything yet, but I believe he will be my opponent," Maia told Tatame.com. "I saw his last fight against (Patrick) Cote, he certainly is a tough guy, one of the best in the division. For me, it's an excellent thing to come back against a guy at his level."

Maia doesn't even want to speculate about whether a win over Belcher would move him back into title contention.

"First I'll focus on beating him," said Maia. "There are lots of things to think about and it's early to think about that. Let's wait for this fight and then we'll see what will happen."

Maia has been training recently at Wanderlei Silva's gym in Las Vegas, and both in the United States and his native Brazil he says he has found unexpected support following his loss to Silva.

"Of course a defeat is always a bad thing in the career of an athlete, but this loss had more repercussions than any win I have ever had," Maia explained. "People come to talk to me, the fans and all... I got surprised by that. I realized that there are people who admire me despite my loss and they're coming to talk to me even more than at times when I have won the fight, so it's a good thing. I love this relationship with the fans in Brazil and here (the United States) also."

Silva received criticism from many following his fight with Maia for acting disrespectfully, but Maia would rather simply leave that controversy in the past.

"I'd rather not to comment, as I said," Maia stated. "I think that if you watch the fight it's enough to draw any conclusions. I prefer not to think about it and to focus on my career from now on."

Maia was more outspoken with his opinion of Silva's next challenger, Chael Sonnen. Asked if he thought Sonnen had a chance to beat Silva, Maia's answer was unequivocal.

"I sure do," said Maia. "He has a really tough game and it's hard for anyone to beat him. He has  good takedowns, has a good ground game, he's very big and strong in comparison with the other athletes of...