Tag: Gil Martinez

*UPDATED* Gil Martinez Says Maynard is Likely Leaving Xtreme Couture to Train at AKA; Gray Says He’s Undecided


(Plan “B”: Boy band — PicProps: MMATKO)

Gil Martinez appeared on Mauro Ranallo’s “The MMA Show“ radio program today and the head boxing trainer and coach at Xtreme Couture dropped a bombshell about one of his highest profile students.

According to Martinez, he’s pretty sure that  former number one UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard has decided to cut ties with the Vegas gym and is planning a move to the San Francisco Bay area where he will train American Kickboxing Academy moving forward. There, Maynard will join a top-tier team that includes notables like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Josh Thomson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.


(Plan “B”: Boy band — PicProps: MMATKO)

Gil Martinez appeared on Mauro Ranallo’s “The MMA Show“ radio program today and the head boxing trainer and coach at Xtreme Couture dropped a bombshell about one of his highest profile students.

According to Martinez, he’s pretty sure that  former number one UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard has decided to cut ties with the Vegas gym and is planning a move to the San Francisco Bay area where he will train American Kickboxing Academy moving forward. There, Maynard will join a top-tier team that includes notables like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Josh Thomson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

Martinez told Ranallo that he was hurt and disappointed that Gray decided to move without discussing it with his Xtreme Couture stablemates and coaches, but wishes him the best at his new gym.

Besides his recent knockout loss to Frankie Edgar, part of the reason for Maynard’s departure could be comments Martinez made about his camp for the bout. He revealed in his Fighters.com blog after the bout that he wasn’t involved as much in Maynard’s camp as he has been for previous bouts.

“In the corner I was just playing it by ear and looking for certain things since I wasn’t exactly sure of everything he had been doing since I wasn’t completely involved with his camp this time around, though I wish I had been,” he explained

Martinez  also mentioned in the weeks after the fight that he didn’t agree with Gray’s decision to not train every day at Xtreme Couture for the camp.  Instead, “The Bully” decided it would be best if he he rented out a gym closer to home and bring in training partners to train with so he didn’t have to travel to XC every day for the eight weeks before the bout.

Although he says that no official decision has been made by Gray, from what he is hearing, it’s all but a done deal.

Attempts to reach Maynard for comment have been unsuccessful. We’ll have more updates as we receive them.

*UPDATED at 7:30 pm ET on Monday, November 21, 2011:
Gray texted us the following statement regarding his supposed switch in camps:

“Nothing for sure yet. Just training, getting new looks. I love [Xtreme Couture], but there’s a lot to learn out there.”

So it seems that he is strongly considering a change of scenery, however he’s taking his time and putting a lot of consideration into where he’ll eventually land.

Check Out The Bum Rush Radio Show Episode 27 with Gil Martinez

Well, The Bum Rush Radio Show is finally back in your lives after a brief hiatus. Whether or not that’s a good thing remains to be seen. Our relationship with you is like Sid’s was with Nancy; you can’t live without us, but sometimes we drive you insane and we’re cool with that. We’ll hide the knives and the heroin and we’ll continue to get along just fine.

Anyway, our special guest this week is acclaimed Xtreme Couture head boxing coach Gil Martinez who is in the final stages of preparations for Gray Maynard’s championship rematch with Frankie Edgar. We talk to Gil about his thoughts on the bout and we find out what he thought about the Ortiz-Mayweather debacle.

Also on the show, we formally meet our new part-time staff member Jared “DangadaDang” Jones as he, Ben and Mike discuss the top news of the week, last week’s UFC 135 event, and the last UFC on Versus card coming up tomorrow.


Well, The Bum Rush Radio Show is finally back in your lives after a brief hiatus. Whether or not that’s a good thing remains to be seen. Our relationship with you is like Sid’s was with Nancy; you can’t live without us, but sometimes we drive you insane and we’re cool with that. We’ll hide the knives and the heroin and we’ll continue to get along just fine.

Anyway, our special guest this week is acclaimed Xtreme Couture head boxing coach Gil Martinez who is in the final stages of preparations for Gray Maynard’s championship rematch with Frankie Edgar. We talk to Gil about his thoughts on the bout and we find out what he thought about the Ortiz-Mayweather debacle.

Also on the show, we formally meet our new part-time staff member Jared “DangadaDang” Jones as he, Ben and Mike discuss the top news of the week, last week’s UFC 135 event, and the last UFC on Versus card coming up tomorrow.

As always, you can subscribe to the show via iTunes, or download it directly by right clicking and saving the mp3 of the show HERE.

Quote of the Day: Mickey Ward Says Boxing Fans Are Switching to MMA Because There’s More Action and More Events

(Video courtesy of YouTube/sugarrayhatton)

If you saw the movie “The Fighter” with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, you know who “Irish” Mickey Ward is. To the rest of us, he’s a former boxer who put in perhaps the best single round in boxing history against the late Arturro Gatti.

In an interview he recently did with East Side Boxing, Ward spoke about the influx of boxers crossing over to fight in MMA.

“I don’t really think that boxing needs saving, but [Mayweather fighting Pacquiao] would bring back a lot of people to the sport. I think it would bring a lot of interest back to boxing. I don’t think that boxing will ever go anywhere, because it’s the oldest sport there is. But there are a lot of people going to the MMA side,” Ward says. “You know what we need? We need the best fighters to fight the best fighters, and that way boxing would go back to where it was in the 70’s. Look at Bernard Hopkins; he will fight anyone in the world. He is the exception to the age rule. He is incredible.”


(Video courtesy of YouTube/sugarrayhatton)

If you saw the movie “The Fighter” with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, you know who “Irish” Mickey Ward is. To the rest of us, he’s a former boxer who put in perhaps the best single round in boxing history against the late Arturro Gatti.

In an interview he recently did with East Side Boxing, Ward spoke about the influx of boxers crossing over to fight in MMA.

“I don’t really think that boxing needs saving, but [Mayweather fighting Pacquiao] would bring back a lot of people to the sport. I think it would bring a lot of interest back to boxing. I don’t think that boxing will ever go anywhere, because it’s the oldest sport there is. But there are a lot of people going to the MMA side,” Ward says. “You know what we need? We need the best fighters to fight the best fighters, and that way boxing would go back to where it was in the 70’s. Look at Bernard Hopkins; he will fight anyone in the world. He is the exception to the age rule. He is incredible.”

Ward, who is in the early stages of production for “The Fighter 2″ says that boxing fans have also started to gravitate towards MMA because boxing is getting stale due to it’s lack of action and mismatches.

“I kind of believe [that fans are leaving boxing for MMA]. I see it actually happening. There are more fights and more action,” Ward admits. “That’s why you have to have the best fighting the best. It’s all money, money and money. It’s positioning.”

It’s refreshing to hear a former boxer admit what’s happening, rather than deny it like some do. Bernard Hopkins used to be one of the most outspoken opposers of mixed martial arts in boxing, but training with some MMA fighters  at his gym in Philly (and likely getting taken down and tapped out) has opened his mind.

He gave Gil Martinez an analogy that sums up the difference in the two sports perfectly and respectfully:

“You cannot take a shark out of the water and throw him in the jungle versus a lion. He will be destroyed. And if you put a lion in the water versus a shark, the lion will be destroyed,” Hopkins explained. “Just like boxing and MMA – they are two totally different animals. We need to remember that.”

 

Vitor Belfort Parts Ways With Trainer Shawn Tompkins Ahead of UFC 126

Filed under: UFC, NewsVitor Belfort has worked with striking coach Shawn Tompkins since mid-2008, when Belfort first walked into the gym of longtime rival Randy Couture in hopes of training with him.

The union between coach and fighter has been produc…

Filed under: ,

Vitor Belfort has worked with striking coach Shawn Tompkins since mid-2008, when Belfort first walked into the gym of longtime rival Randy Couture in hopes of training with him.

The union between coach and fighter has been productive. Belfort earned three knockouts in three fights while under Tompkins’ watch. But with Belfort in the midst of preparation for the biggest match of his career — a UFC 126 title shot against champ Anderson Silva — the partnership is apparently over.