"I see myself ready to fight for the belt. I would go at Anderson and it would give him the chance of knocking me out or give me the opportunity to finish the fight. That's what I expect. I'm not saying I will win, but I will fight to end the fight before the judges decision. I want to do an aggressive fight and expose myself more. The UFC were waiting on the result of Anderson-Thales match to see what to do with me. They told me they were planning to give me the chance in August but because of their performance the UFC decided not put Silva in a main event very soon. Then they matched me and Nate Marquardt to find out the next challenger for the belt."

-Undefeated UFC middleweight Demian Maia tells Fighter's Only that he'd make an exciting fight against Anderson Silva. Maia, a brilliant Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, is a victim of a poor showing by Thales Leites, another excellent jiu-jitsu player, against Silva. The overmatched Leites continually refused to engage with Silva and the fight was widely critisized by fans and media leaving the UFC hesitent to match up their champion with another jiu-jitsu guy anytime soon. Maia, (10-0) will instead have to face Nate Marquardt before earning a possible shot at Silva who will move up to light heavyweight to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 101.