Ryan LaFlare admits he underestimated the wrestling of Demian Maia and broke his hand in the first round

Ryan LaFlare suffered his first career defeat on Saturday night in Brazil at UFC Fight Night 62 as he lost a decision to Demian Maia in the main event of the fight card.

Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports

Maia was able to take the fight to the ground on five occasions in the fight and had two submission attempts in route to winning the fight by unanimous decision.

In his post fight octagon interview, he told Jon Anik that he learned a tough lesson in the fight and went into more detail about the lessons he learned in the post fight press conference.

“It took me a little too long to get going,” LaFlare stated during the post fight press conference. “I figured that I would get him tired and I lost a step after the first round and I was like ‘I’ll come back in the second round.’ I finally got going in the fifth and it was a little too late. Obviously, I have to be a little more ready to go right away. My plan was to kind of what and feel him out. It just did not happen.”

“I underestimated his wrestling a little bit and I broke my hand in the first round. I am not making excuses. He still took me down and I do not need my hand to not get taken down. A lot of respect to Demian. Maybe I had a little bit of ring rust and I will move on. Keep getting better.”