The next time UFC middleweight Maiquel Falcao (26-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) steps in the octagon, one thing is certain: he won't be playing the role of unknown Brazilian.

After a controversy-filled UFC 123 win over Gerald Harris, you likely recognize Falcao as either the Brazilian robbed of a submission win, the thug that held on to a rear-naked choke too long or the bore who refused to engage in the bout's final round.

But Falcao insists he's none of those things and will shortly be known by another tag: top middleweight contender.

"I am very happy with my victory," Falcao told MMAjunkie.com through an interpreter. "I was OK and did not get over-excited or nervous. I was very focused and did not let the pressure take over me.

"I felt very confident from the start until the end of the fight."

Falcao's confidence was evident as he walked to the cage for the UFC 123 main-card fight. Almost frighteningly calm as he was introduced to the suburban Detroit crowd, Falcao also looked shockingly composed in the fight's opening minutes. In his first fight in the UFC, Falcao appeared immune to the dreaded octagon jitters.

"That calm comes from a combination of faith in God, hard training and the experience of more than 25 MMA fights," Falcao explained.

With 22 first-round finishes to his name, Falcao is known in his native Brazil as a hyper-aggressive brawler. But against Harris, Falcao admits he took a more cautious approach.

"My plan was to win more than anything," Falcao said. "The UFC is the biggest event on the planet, and if you lose your first fight, you are very close to being fired. I was matched up with a very tough and skilled fighter in Gerald Harris, so I knew I could not make any mistakes and expect to get the win. That's why I was more careful than usual.

"I wanted to win so bad in my debut, but I knew that if I went too aggressive on the start against Gerald, he would take me down and give me a hard fight."

But the action did pick up in the closing seconds of the first round, and Falcao was able to take his opponent's back and work in a deep rear-naked choke. That's when the bout began to take on a bizarre tone as the round appeared to end approximately seven seconds short of the five-minute mark.

Falcao said he initially thought the sequence was a bit odd, but it wasn't until he returned to Brazil that he realized the magnitude of the controversy.

"In the fight, I thought it was really fast between the 10-second warning and when the referee took me from Gerald's back," Falcao said. "At first, I thought I had won the fight.

"When I came back to Brazil and saw people all over talking about this was when I really realized what had happened."

But Falcao's critics look at that same sequence in a different light. They point to Falcao's apparent unwillingness to release the choke at the bell as a dirty tactic.

Falcao disagrees.

"I am not a dirty fighter," Falcao said. "I did make some mistakes in the past, but I have learned from them and matured as a fighter. Now I respect every fighter as a man who is there seeking a better future for his family, exactly like me, so I would never do it on purpose. We are professionals.

"I don't think I held the choke too long. As soon as the referee came pushing me, I let it go. I've worked too hard to get to the UFC, and I am not going to throw it away."

Falcao nearly secured another rear-naked choke in the second round, but Harris survived that attack, as well. But in the third round, Falcao's offense was nearly non-existent, and the arena filled with boos.

Falcao said the lack of action was due largely to a mistake in strategy that he will never make again.

"When I came to the third round, I knew I had dominated the action in the first two rounds, so I was expecting Gerald to come and try to knock me out," Falcao said. "I was ready to counter and finish him when he missed, but it did not happen, and I kept waiting for it.

"When I realized he wasn't going to come forward, it was already the last 10 seconds of the fight. It won't happen in my next fight. I will finish it very early and then apologize to the fans across the world."

At UFC 123's post-event press conference, UFC president Dana White was openly critical of Falcao's performance and implored the entire UFC roster to learn from this fight what not to do. It's a message Falcao said he took to heart.

"Dana's criticism was fair," Falcao said. "People pay to watch big fights and not strategy games. I think that the fact it was my debut made me be too careful. I was only thinking about winning.

"I am very grateful to the UFC, Dana and (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva because they gave me the opportunity I have been waiting for all my life. I will pay them back with the fights they want to watch. You all can look forward to my next fight because now that the debut is over, I will go in there to finish the fights like I have always done in my career."

It's currently unknown when Falcao will fight again, but "Big Rig" promises things will be different the second time around.

"I would like to say thanks to the UFC, Dana White and Joe Silva for trusting in me as a fighter," Falcao said. "I want to thank all the fans that have been showing a lot of support all over the world. Also thanks to my sponsors Musclepharm and Hayabusa for all the support. I love you all, and I will pay you all back by giving everything I have inside the octagon.

"Sometimes just winning is not enough. Now that all the pressure of the UFC debut is gone I will be able to fight the way I like: finishing people and cementing my place in the elite of the middleweight division."

Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/21532/ufcs-fa ... rategy.mma

Meh, I thought it was a fair strategy. When you are fighting someone with one shot knockout power and that guy is losing after two rounds, you would expect him to go for broke. There is a reason Harris got cut.

I agree that I like a good strategic match-up as much as the next guy, and I love to watch when two great ground fighters are working hard on different subs, etc. and rolling from one move to the next to either attack or defend, but I think in this particular case I do tend to lean a bit more towards the side of action over strategy. It's not that I don't think that either fighter should have thrown strategy out the window, it's just that in this case I think that Harris had NO CHOICE but to attack in that third round, but instead he did nothing... and it seemed obvious to me that it was because he really had nothing left in the tank, and Falcao had an obvious lead, but why not try and finish off your opponent? Why ever leave it to the judges in a case where your team has lost the last 2 ventures into the octagon and you are so clearly in command in the bout, Harris could offer no real defense and Falcao, IMO could have attacked hard at any point in that last round and ended it quickly, leaving no doubt as to legitimacy of his being invited to the UFC, and no booing from the crowds.

They both came into the bout being touted as knockout specialists who finish fights and I think that's what made it even worse for the crowd who was expecting an all out war, and in the last round got a dancing competition instead. Now had they at least engaged, tried to strike, tried to dodge strikes, and used strategy to actually take the fight to their opponent, I think that it would have been a far better last round. Had Falcao even tried to play it safe and taken the fight to the ground and looked to just G-n-P or work towards a submission to finish the fight, that at least would have been something, and still been playing it smart and strategically safe keeping away from getting caught with one lucky hay-maker from Harris, but pushing to finish and giving the crowd some action at least.

Just my opinion, not gospel or anything, so feel free to voice your own if you think I'm wrong guys and gals

-Poincy