“Taking fights on short notice is definitely not something I was prepared to do. Even though I was in shape, all the hype and stress and interviews and everything like that, it’s normally something you work yourself into, but with me, I got a dump truck load of all-new stress put right on my shoulders. It would have been cool if I would have been seasoned enough to have been able to handle that, but I’m chalking it up as a learning experience because I wasn’t seasoned, and wasn’t used to all the interviews and all the pressures that it takes to be a main event or co-main event.”

The once fast rising welterweight contender Rick Story, weighed in with UFC.com recently about the unneeded pressure put on him early in his UFC career.

Once on a six-fight UFC winning streak, Story was poised to break into contender status with just a few more key victories. That all changed when he was put up against Charlie Brenneman in a booking that was just short of 24-hours notice.

Having dropped 2 of his last 3 fights, Story now faces one of the most dangerous men of his career in Demian Maia at UFC 153 this weekend.

To see what he said about Maia hop to page 2.

“Demian’s one of the best on the ground in the world, I expect (him) to be trying to take it to the ground and bring it to his strength. I’m not opposed to going to the ground, but I don’t want to play into his strengths. If I’m there, and he gets me to the ground or I get him to the ground, I’m going to be trying to put some punishment on him, that’s for sure.”

“Demian’s one of the best on the ground in the world, I expect (him) to be trying to take it to the ground and bring it to his strength. I’m not opposed to going to the ground, but I don’t want to play into his strengths. If I’m there, and he gets me to the ground or I get him to the ground, I’m going to be trying to put some punishment on him, that’s for sure.”

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