UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard is looking forward to meeting lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the Octagon again at UFC 136, and he’s had plenty of time to plan for it.The duo were originally supposed to squash their UFC 125 beef at UFC 130…
UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard is looking forward to meeting lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the Octagon again at UFC 136, and he’s had plenty of time to plan for it.
The duo were originally supposed to squash their UFC 125 beef at UFC 130, but both men were injured and the fight was delayed a further six events. However, Maynard was unfazed at his injury as well as the postponement of the match.
“It was easy to get back [into training],” Maynard said at a media call that BleacherReport.com attended. “I love to train. I only took off about three or four weeks because of a scope on my elbow. The whole time I planned out the camp I would have and it was all good.”
Their last fight, an epic encounter that ended in a controversial draw, was a crowd pleaser, but not everyone went home happy.
“The draw hurt a little bit,” he said. Fortunately for Maynard, the rematch was immediately booked. Now, he’s just ready and waiting. “I’m pumped to have it again and we’ll wait for the eighth.”
In the last fight, Maynard nearly finished Edgar with a long and devastating flurry of punches, but the champ ultimately pulled through and fought back to earn a draw. While being so close to a title yet so far would be devastating to a man of average mental toughness, it’s nothing too terrible for Maynard, who probably would’ve gotten bored as title-holder anyway.
“I’ve come close to a lot of goals. I also have a lot of goals that I did accomplish. It always feels really good at the time but the next day it’s always onto the next one.”
Their second title fight (which is actually their third fight overall) promises to be more intriguing than the first since now each man knows everything about the other man’s abilities.
What will Gray Maynard do to deal with the speed and agility of Frankie Edgar? How will Edgar handle Maynard’s size and strength?
The world will be waiting with bated breath until October 8th when the two fighters finally square off to decide who is the UFC lightweight champion.
UFC on Versus 6 will feature a bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. The fight is no doubt the biggest and most important of Johnson’s career…or at least that’s what most would think…
UFC on Versus 6 will feature a bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. The fight is no doubt the biggest and most important of Johnson’s career…or at least that’s what most would think.
However, for Johnson, nothing is further from the truth. “I’m looking at it as any other fight,” Johnson said at the UFC on Versus 6 media call that BleacherReport.com was present for.
“It’s a great opportunity that the UFC has given to me and I’m going to try and take full advantage of the opportunity,” he said.
Johnson then offered an insightful reason as to why he’s not making a big deal mentally about the fight, saying, “There’s two outcomes. Dominick Cruz can outright destroy me…and I lose a title fight and go back to the gym and get ready for the next fight and keep on going or I go out there and put on a fantastic show and go back home and enjoy my life and go back to the gym and get ready for the next fight.
“So either way, it is what it is…I just gotta go out there and be the best Mighty Mouse on October 1 and just go out there and perform and see what happens.”
This nonchalant attitude does not mean that Johnson isn’t taking the champion Cruz seriously. “I’ve made a lot of adjustments in my style in training and preparing for Dominick,” he said. In fact, “Mighty Mouse” has even enlisted the help of an aptly nicknamed training partner to help him.
“Everyone goes ‘Man it’s so hard to prepare for somebody like Dominick,'” Johnson said. “One of my coaches who teaches me all my footwork and the style I do, I’ve been sparring him and he has watched like 15 hours of footage of Dominick and we call him the ‘Black Dominick’ in the gym because when I come in he’ll start imitating Dominick and I’ll spar him.”
While this seems rigorous and difficult, training has been easier than ever Johnson since he stopped fighting while holding a full-time job in construction.
“I was working 40 hours a week; I barely got any rest,” he remembered. “I’d get off of work at three, be at the gym at like four o’clock, work out till like 6:30 and then wake up and do it all over again.”
Johnson continued on, saying “I’d get home on Sunday it wasn’t like ‘Whoo let’s party come on!’ it was like ‘I gotta get up and go to work the next morning at six o’clock.’ When I broke my leg against Miguel Torres, I was at work that Monday.”
Despite the fact that Johnson can finally devote his full heart and soul to a proper training camp, he is still an underdog but to him, it’s nothing new. “Every fight I’ve come into I’ve been the underdog and it doesn’t bother me at all. I plan on going there and putting on a great fight for the UFC and for the fans. I’m looking forward to getting in there with Dominick and showing the world what I got.”
Perhaps what keeps Johnson so humble are his training partners that push him and test him daily.
“All the guys I train with are bigger than me and they’re better than me,” he said. “I’m always fighting for my life when I’m training. I’m not in there running those guys into the ground, they’re running me into the ground and I have to pick myself and be like ‘Alright, let’s do it again, show me what you got.'”
The whole process of becoming a full-time fighter, fighting for a title and training with world-class training partners hasn’t spoiled Johnson, who is just happy to be where he is. “I’m just grateful to be a full-time fighter…I’m going to go out there and try to make a name for myself and just stick it to ‘em.” He’ll have his chance on October 1.
The sport of mixed martial arts has grown by leaps and bounds since the UFC started a martial arts revolution in 1993, but the process hasn’t been glorious.In fact, there were many moments along the way that totally embarrassed the sport and could have…
The sport of mixed martial arts has grown by leaps and bounds since the UFC started a martial arts revolution in 1993, but the process hasn’t been glorious.
In fact, there were many moments along the way that totally embarrassed the sport and could have caused it long term damage. There were also moments that, while not egregiously disgraceful, were enough to warrant millions of “facepalms.”
What were these moments and why were they so bad? Read and find out!
When there is a fight as big as UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, many forget that there are other fights on the card.There are a multitude of intriguing matchups at UFC 135, with the most interesting of all be…
When there is a fight as big as UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, many forget that there are other fights on the card.
There are a multitude of intriguing matchups at UFC 135, with the most interesting of all being on the main card.
Nate Diaz versus Takanori Gomi
The pay-per-view broadcast starts with a lightweight bout between Nate Diaz, from Stockton, California, and Japan’s Takanori Gomi, the first and only Pride lightweight champion.
Both fighters are skilled in the striking department, but in different ways. Gomi has superior power, but Diaz has better combinations and throws far more punches.
In terms of grappling, Gomi has more credentials on paper, but his abilities have been proven to be extraordinarily overrated. He was once touted as one of the greatest lightweights of all-time, but his skills were no match for those of Kenny Florian and Clay Guida.
Diaz’s grappling isn’t the greatest either, but it’s still quite good. He shouldn’t have a problem submitting Gomi.
The prediction: Diaz via submission late in the first round.
Travis Browne versus Rob Broughton
This is one of the more intriguing matchups on the fight card because the two competitors are very evenly-matched competitors.
The fight seems like a classic striker-versus-grappler match. Browne has a primarily striking-based attack, and Broughton’s base is in wrestling (a Brit with a wrestling base!? Amazing!).
So how will the fight play out?
Broughton will almost definitely try to clinch Browne, and Browne will look to stay on the outside to exploit his height and reach advantage, which are both considerable. Broughton may keep it competitive in the beginning, but he may well struggle to get it to the ground against the powerful Browne.
Thus, look for Browne to earn a TKO victory after many failed takedown attempts from the Brit.
Ben Rothwell versus Mark Hunt
Ben Rothwell and Mark Hunt are two of the most overrated heavyweights of all-time.
Many thought Rothwell was a future heavyweight champ, but his record was full of wins over subpar fighters. When he fought good fighters, he folded.
Hunt was also talked up a lot after wins over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Wanderlei Silva (both in their primes) but was ultimately a letdown. He has the distinction of being the only below .500 fighter currently signed with the UFC, with a record of 6-7.
So who wins the battle of the stars that weren’t?
Rothwell was overrated, but he can at least strike and grapple, whereas Hunt’s grappling has always been deficient. Rothwell will initially try to trade with Hunt, get the worst of it, and then move to take the New Zealander down.
Rothwell will keep up the grinding attack for the remainder of the fight. He will win via decision or submission.
Matt Hughes versus Josh Koscheck
Former UFC welterweight champion Hughes is one of the all-time greats, but his time has long since passed.
Koscheck is younger, faster, stronger and better; Koscheck is basically Hughes, but better at everything Hughes is good at.
This fight won’t make it past the first round. Hughes will fail to take Koscheck down and proceed to get laid out by a right hand.
Jon “Bones” Jones versus Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
How will the main event go down? Likely with a whimper rather than a bang.
Rampage Jackson had trouble dealing with the reach of Forrest Griffin and the wrestling of Rashad Evans. How will he deal with a fighter like Jones, who has a bigger reach and better wrestling technique?
In addition, Jackson rarely diversifies his attack and prefers to just headhunt. If he does this against Jones, he’ll be taken down and beaten up.
The fight likely won’t be very competitive. Jones will pepper Jackson with jabs and unorthodox strikes from the outside to set-up an eventual takedown, and he’ll finish the fight any way he wants from there, although it may take him a few rounds to finally do it.
The UFC recently held a pre-fight press conference for UFC 135. The conference was full of the usual trash talk between the headliners UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but there was something there that…
The UFC recently held a pre-fight press conference for UFC 135. The conference was full of the usual trash talk between the headliners UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but there was something there that excelled beyond even their importance—kids.
Yes, kids! If you were watching the latter part of the press conference in which UFC president Dana White let the fans ask questions once the media had their say, you would’ve seen two kids being given the chance to ask a question.
Did the two children ask questions of such earth-shattering magnitude that it forever changed the MMA world?
Hardly. The first child—a girl—introduced herself as the first ever women’s UFC fighter and the next child asked about what steps he needed to take to get into the UFC.
While the kids had nothing groundbreaking to say, it wasn’t necessarily their words that were important; it was their very presence at the press conference!
When Dana White and Zuffa purchased the UFC in 2001, there was no way in the world you’d see children at a UFC press conference. The attitude towards the organization and towards the sport itself has since shifted dramatically, as indicated by the children at the press conference.
The UFC is now seen as a more legitimate sport, one that is safe to watch for children. But more important than that, it’s safe for children to practice MMA as well.
Both kids asked questions that implied that they trained. While this seems to be something minor that can be swiftly glossed over and dismissed as unimportant, it’s actually a crucial fact in the long-term outlook for MMA.
What does it mean?
It means that parents are letting kids watch the events and are in fact encouraging their kids (perhaps even against their child’s will as so many parent’s who did nothing with their own lives often do) to participate in the sport. If the UFC is popular enough for parents to be pushing their kids into it, is it really as far away from NFL-level popularity as we think?
The current generation of parents is now no longer afraid of having its children train in MMA; the sport isn’t “too violent” anymore. These kids, even if they don’t train, will be exposed to the UFC being popular and not a taboo organization practically since birth.
The current group of children will follow the UFC throughout their lives. When these kids grow up and have kids of their own, those kids will be hooked on the UFC for life as well, creating a household, and a society, where MMA is a sport that entire families are into.
What the presence of kids at the press conference really means is that the UFC is pervading the rest of society. Its stranglehold over solely the male 18-34 demographic is at an end. It was simply a matter of time.
The 18-34 males who watched the first season of The Ultimate Fighter are beginning to have their own children, who will be raised on MMA. This means that, over time, the UFC will captivate not only young, single males, but children and parents, even females!
The events of UFC 135 will come and go, as will champions like Jones and “Rampage.” But what will be remembered about UFC 135 is that the pre-fight press conference was where the UFC’s eventual captivation of society as a whole became a fact, all thanks to the presence of a couple of kids.
The bout between epic strikers Cung Le and Vitor Belfort has been set for UFC 139. Even though the event is still about two months away, the matchup between the two men is so intriguing that a breakdown simply needs to be done now.Who has the better st…
The bout between epic strikers Cung Le and Vitor Belfort has been set for UFC 139. Even though the event is still about two months away, the matchup between the two men is so intriguing that a breakdown simply needs to be done now.
Who has the better striking of the two striking legends? Is there a chance that one will bring the other to the ground? Who will have the upper hand in their struggle at UFC 139?
These questions and more will be answered in this early head-to-toe breakdown of Cung Le vs. Vitor Belfort.
UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard is looking forward to meeting lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the Octagon again at UFC 136, and he’s had plenty of time to plan for it.