LONDON - Team Quest has sent three fighters to challenge Demian Maia in the UFC. All lost. Now it's Chael Sonnen's turn.

The 31-year-old middleweight from Oregon helped Ryan Jensen, Ed Herman and Nate Quarry prepare for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace. Maia (10-0) needed a total of just 12 minutes 20 seconds to submit all three.

"I've had Maia on the brain for a while," Sonnen said succinctly.

The upside is that Sonnen (23-9-1) has had a chance to study Maia. The downside is the 31-year-old Brazilian keeps evolving as a fighter.

"Right when we think we've got him figured out, he brings out a whole new arsenal, like he did with Nate Quarry where he actually pulled Nate on top of him and then looked for a sweep, which he found quite successfully," Sonnen said. "Each time Demian fights, he just keeps showing new tricks and new skills, so he's a pretty hard puzzle to figure out at this point."

Maia's winning strategy is simple, however. If he gets his opponent to the ground, he wins.

He works his jiu-jitsu to pass guard, then softens up his foe with punches and elbows before taking his back and choking him out. So far resistance has been futile. Herman didn't tap and was rendered unconscious. Canadian Jason MacDonald, his other UFC victim, showed considerable ground skills in lasting until the third round but took his lumps and eventually met the same fate.

"He's the real deal," said Sonnen.

Sonnen and Maia clash Saturday at UFC 95 at the O2 Arena (Rogers Sportsnet, 3 p.m. ET, and Spike TV, 9 p.m., ET on tape delay) in one of two fights on the card with implications for the middleweight division. In the other, a resurgent Nate (The Great) Marquardt takes on Wilson Gouveia.

With four consecutive wins in the UFC, Maia is closing in on a shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Canadian Patrick Cote ran up four straight victories before being matched with Silva at UFC 90. Five wins on the trot earned Brazilian Thales Leites a date with the champion at UFC 97 in April.

Sonnen is the latest wild card in a division that has been crying out for someone to challenge Silva. He returns to the UFC after a stint in the WEC that featured an up-and-down rivalry with champion Paulo Filho.

Sonnen lost their first fight on a controversial submission and won the second, which was rendered a non-title affair when a seemingly distracted Filho -- returning from a stint in rehab -- failed to make weight.

With the WEC opting to concentrate on lighter weight classes, Sonnen moves back to the UFC after an absence of almost three years.

His return is welcome. Away from the cage, Sonnen is as fresh as his first name (his mother was thinking of Michael then decided just to use the last five letters).

A former all-American wrestler and U.S. Olympic alternate (in 2000), Sonnen runs a real estate business when not fighting and has his own amateur MMA promotion, the Full Contact Fighting Federation.

In 2004, he ran as a Republican for the Oregon house of representatives, losing by 298 votes to the incumbent.

He lists Pope John Paul II as his hero -- "He was just a good man."

Told he is not your ordinary fighter, Sonnen takes it as a compliment.

"I appreciate that. Every now and then I'm even a little turned off by the sport, by the actions of some of the fellow fighters."

Sonnen says what's on his mind. That includes a blunt assessment of Silva's reputation as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

"I think that's marketing," Sonnen said. "I don't think there's a lot of fighters that think Silva's the best pound-for-pound in the world, but if you're a promoter he's certainly marketable. And he's an excellent fighter, I'm not trying to diminish that. But he's got some holes, especially if he was matched up with somebody like Maia (on the ground).

"And I don't mean to turn my focus on Anderson or turn this into an opportunity to take some shots at him. But yeah, the winner of Maia and I is going to fight Anderson. I think either Maia or I could beat Anderson. I think this fight will determine who really is the best 185-pounder in the world, I think, between Maia and I."

Pressed on issue of the winner getting a title shot, Sonnen concedes there have been no promises, although he says it's been hinted at.

To put himself in line, Sonnen knows he will have to find a way to blunt Maia's jiu-jitsu. Sonnen says his grappling skills are good, but not at Maia's level.

"I've been at it a while, I've entered the Abu Dhabi world championships on two separate occasions, I've won matches there each time. I've gone against some of the best guys in the world. So my jiu-jitsu and ground skills are very good. They're not his, they're not on his level.

"If I showed you a way to do something and he showed you a way, do it his way, put it that way," he added dryly.

Maia respects Sonnen's skills.

"Very, very tough. Very good and smart fighter," he said of Sonnen. "He's not like my previous opponents, they were more aggressive.

"I think he's going to try to stay away and do the same that he did with Paulo Filho, just keep winning by points," he added.