When Gray Maynard meets Clay Guida on June 22 in Atlantic City, N.J., it will mark his first UFC fight without any members of Xtreme Couture by his side. “The Bully” announced following his UFC 136 loss to Frankie Edgar last year that he would no longer be training at the Las Vegas gym.
Maynard insisted his departure had nothing to do with the personnel at Xtreme Couture, but rather wanting to experience training with other fighters and coaches around the world.
So with less than three months to go before his UFC on FX 4 fight, Maynard has settled on a new team. The 32-year-old recently told MMAFighting.com that he will train at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., “two-to-three times” a week, as well as with famed strength and conditioning coaches Marv and Gary Marinovich and boxing coach Rick Noble.
The arrival of Maynard (10-1-1, 1 NC) to AKA all but cements that camp’s status as the best wrestling team in MMA, as it is also home to the likes of Daniel Cormier, Muhammed Lawal, Cain Velasquez and Jon Fitch, to name a few.
The Marinovich brothers are no strangers to MMA, most notably working with BJ Penn during his lightweight title reign in 2009.
UFC on FX 4, headlined by Maynard vs. Guida, will take place at Atlantic City’s Revel hotel and resort.