Royce Gracie Thinks Demian Maia Can Break His Record In The UFC

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Royce Gracie said that he thinks Demian Maia can break his record of ten submission wins, which Gracie achieved in the thirteen months between UFC 1 and UFC 4. Maia has already earned nine wins, with five since his start as a middleweight in 2007 and another four after dropping to welterweight in 2012. Here are highlights:

On Maia’s win over Carlos Condit: “His fight was perfect. He showed how efficient jiu-jitsu is, and that he can win only using his jiu-jitsu. The way he’s going, he will beat that number and put the record way up [laughs]. He’s doing great.”

On Maia winning with submissions: “You don’t need to trade punches or allow getting punched in the face to win the fight, and Demian shows that. He spent some time wanting to use muay thai, but grew a lot when he started believing in his jiu-jitsu again. You have to work on your stand-up to know what’s coming, but jiu-jitsu is enough to win the fight.”

On Maia closing in on his record: “He has everything. He’s a calm fighter, doesn’t get too anxious when he steps in there to try to trade punches. He just goes there and gets the job done.”