This Saturday plays host to TUF Season 12’s Finale show. On the card, one of the featured attractions is a bout between top middleweight fighters, Kendall Grove and Demian Maia. In this interview with UFC.com Kendall explains his desire to break into the top 10 of the division with a win over the former number 1 contender Maia.
“Even some of my closest friends, when I told them who I was fighting, they were like ‘oh (Demian) Maia, oooohhh’. That kinda pisses me off, and what a lot of people don’t know is that I asked for this fight. The secret is letting go. I’m taking this seriously and I’m confident in what I have. Two, three months is not gonna put me on the same level of jiu-jitsu as Demian Maia, so why am I gonna let that get in my head? It’s a fight and we start standing. Obviously he’s been working on his standup, he’s got great wrestling, and unbelievable jiu-jitsu, some of the best in the sport. Look, he made Anderson Silva fight cautious, and he went five rounds with him. But I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna fight because that’s my reputation. I’m gonna put on a good show in victory or defeat. I’m just having fun, enjoying my time here, and I’m living my dream. I’m getting to fight one of the UFC’s top ten middleweights, and I can’t ask for anything more.”
