FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Interviews MMATorch Interview (exclusive): Gray Maynard discusses who he'd like to fight next, gameplans for his last few fights, getting into MMA and more

Mar 23, 2010 - 9:47:36 PM

By: Jason Schielke, MMATorch Contributor

Following his appearance on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Gray Maynard has amassed a very impressive record of 7-0-1 in the UFC, including victories against Roger Huerta, Jim Miller, Nate Diaz and current Lightweight title challenger Frankie Edgar. These impressive victories have solidified his position as a top Lightweight, and very viable title challenger, in the UFC.

In a MMATorch.com exclusive, I had the opportunity to conduct an one-on-one interview via e-mail with Gray Maynard, in which he shared his thoughts about his past opponents, who he is looking to fight in the future, and more!

Jason Schielke: So what is the latest is greatest with Gray Maynard?

Gray Maynard: Nothing much just taveling and rehabbing some injuries. Trying to do as much training as possible. Check my website www.graymaynard.com or the blog I do every couple weeks for the www.lasvegassun.com if you really want to keep up with me.

Schielke: From your experience fighting Frankie Edgar and training with B.J. Penn, who do you think will with their fight? What does B.J. Need to do to win? What does Edgar need to do to win?

Maynard: I've never felt BJ in a fight. I only had the opportunity to train with him and that's always different. Against Edgar I never gave him a chance to do what he does best. I was able to shut him down pretty good. But styles make fights, so I'm curious to see how BJ fights Edgar. I'm never good at calling fights anyways.

Schielke: Many people believe that you deserved to get the next available title shot. Since that fight was given to Edgar, are you looking at holding out and fighting the winner of the Penn-Edgar fight or would you like to have another fight in the meantime? If you were to take another fight, who would you like to fight? How do you believe you would match up stylistically with that fighter?

Maynard: Of course I would like to fight for the belt. But I got to wait until they say it's the right time. Hopefully Florian wins his next fight with Gomi. I would like to fight Florian, he's got a good name and that's a fight I'm really interested in.

Schielke: Some commentators and others in the MMA community have suggested that, in an effort to be more exciting, you have moved away from you strengths by boxing opponents instead of taking them down. How do you respond to that?

Maynard: To be honest, that's just been the game plans for my last 3 fights. Miller and Diaz have a really good ground game and Huerta is very hard to hold down until it gets in the 3rd round. That's the plans we came up with, so that's what I do!! I've had 4 southpaws in a row, it's hard to show my stand up game because it's so different than fighting an orthodox fighter. Southpaws are counter punchers, to beat them you got to counter punch a counter puncher, which makes the fight a little slow at times. But, I believe in my stand up and anywhere it goes.

Schielke: Who or what influenced you the most in deciding to pursue a career in Mixed Martial Arts?

Maynard: Myself, after I retired from wrestling I started watching the UFC and felt I could compete. I didn't want to end up saying down the road, "I could've done that but....." I wanted to see where I could go in the sport. I got with Randy Couture's training camp and took it from there. I had good guys around me like Forrest Griffen, Jay Hieron, Mike Pyle, Tyson Griffen, and Martin Kampmann. They all helped me out a lot.

Schielke: Of your opponents, who has taken your punches the best (i.e. who
had the best chin)? Who hit you the hardest?

Maynard: I think the last 5 guys I've fought Edgar, Clementi, Miller, Huerta, and Diaz none of them have been KO'ed in any of their fights. Which is like 120 fights put together. They all have really good chins. I was able to drop Huerta and Diaz, but they recovered really good. Miller also took some really hard shots too. I broke my hand on Edgar, so he's gotta have a hard head. It's hard to say, all of them were tough fighters that didn't quit. Going into all of those fights we really couldn't pick many weaknesses, we knew more than likely they would be tough 3 round fights.

Schielke: In closing, is there anything that you would like to say to all of your fans?

Maynard: Just want to say thanks for the support of me and the sport. Without everyone all this wouldn't be possible. I'm working hard to become the best, so keep watching!!

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First off, I would like to thank Gray for taking the time to do this interview. Elite fighters can be a challenge to get a hold of, but Gray and his people were nothing but class acts and a pleasure to work with. I wish Gray nothing but the best of luck as he works his way towards his well-deserved title shot. Hopefully, we will have the chance to do it again, except next time the interview could be with UFC Lightweight Champion Gray Maynard.

[Gray Maynard photo courtesy of GrayMaynard.com]

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