Tag: Gray Maynard

Frankie Edgar Learned a Valuable Lesson From Chael Sonnen

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsChael Sonnen almost shocked the MMA world at UFC 117 when he came minutes away from snatching the middleweight title belt from Anderson Silva. Of course, his near-perfect performance ended in heartbreak when he…

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Chael Sonnen almost shocked the MMA world at UFC 117 when he came minutes away from snatching the middleweight title belt from Anderson Silva. Of course, his near-perfect performance ended in heartbreak when he was submitted in the late stages of the fifth round.

We’ll know later next year if Sonnen learned anything from that night in Oakland, Calif., but one thing’s for certain: thousands of miles away in New Jersey, Frankie Edgar, the UFC lightweight champion who was gearing up to defend his title against BJ Penn just three weeks later, learned a valuable lesson while watching Sonnen’s loss to Silva.

“I learned some stuff from Chael that night,” Edgar said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “He was just constant pressure and didn’t give Anderson a chance to breathe except for that one second that he got caught in the triangle. So I kind of tried to learn from that; to put the pressure on but don’t be reckless while you are doing so.”

Unlike Sonnen, Edgar fought the perfect fight at UFC 118. He dominated Penn for five full rounds and proved that his UFC 112 win over “The Prodigy” was no fluke after all.

MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: Penn Falls Out

Filed under: UFC, WEC, Rankings, OverallWith his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

He’s long been considered one of the truly elite fighters in mix…

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With his second straight unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn is no longer one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

He’s long been considered one of the truly elite fighters in mixed martial arts, but the soon-to-be 32-year-old Penn has looked in his two fights this year like he has slowed down. Penn is the greatest lightweight ever to fight in MMA, but even the greatest decline eventually.

So Penn isn’t in my pound-for-pound Top 10 anymore. To find out who is, read on.

Maynard says He’ll Just Keep Winning Fights with His ‘Boring’ Game Plans, Thank You Very Much

(Mr. Excitement. PicProps: Peace Magazine, Canada’s "Street Style" Magazine. No, seriously.)
There seems to be quite a bit of electronic hand-wringing going on this week about the prospect of Frankie Edgar’s first post-BJ Penn title def…


(Mr. Excitement. PicProps: Peace Magazine, Canada’s "Street Style" Magazine. No, seriously.)

There seems to be quite a bit of electronic hand-wringing going on this week about the prospect of Frankie Edgar’s first post-BJ Penn title defense coming against Gray Maynard. Reactions range from sheer disbelief that Edgar handled Penn in two straight fights, to pundits wondering aloud if Edgar and Maynard are really the best 155-pounders in the world to a palpable feeling of dread about watching these two match their respective styles for five rounds. While both guys are too classy to say what really needs to be said to these detractors — we’d probably go with something along the lines of "Tough shit, assholes," but that’s just us — you can’t expect them to change their fighting styles just to please the fans, either.

For his part, Edgar said at the UFC 118 post-fight press conference that he plans to just keep winning fights until the haters stop hating. Now Maynard is also on-record saying he will just keep on keeping on, at least until someone can stop the takedowns.

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Gray Maynard Doesn’t Expect Any Trash Talking with Frankie Edgar

If someone had told you six months ago, that in September, people would be discussing whether or not Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II is a marketable championship fight, many of us would have laughed and told buddy to piss off.  Really, following BJ Penn’s violent and bloody stoppage of Diego Sanchez last December, who could […]

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If someone had told you six months ago, that in September, people would be discussing whether or not Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II is a marketable championship fight, many of us would have laughed and told buddy to piss off.  Really, following BJ Penn’s violent and bloody stoppage of Diego Sanchez last December, who could have imagined that as 2010 neared its end, not only would Penn not be the champ, he’d be one or two wins away from contending? That’s some crazy sh-t. Kind of like Fedor getting tapped out in the first round…

In terms of whether or not a rematch between Edgar and Maynard can move some serious PPV’s, well, yes, clearly neither guy has put together the resume yet of a legend like Penn, so things might cool down in the hype department. And don’t expect Maynard to engage in any Chael Sonnen like, ‘deconstructive criticism’ with Edgar to help sell the fight. Speaking to MMA Weekly recently the bruising wrestler stated:

“It’s great competition. He trains hard. He’s a cool guy too. It’s cool because his dad is always like ‘hey Gray!’ talks to me and stuff; nicest guy in the world. So trash talk ain’t gonna happen,” Maynard said. “But I guarantee you he’s going to train hard, and I’ll train, and it’s going to be a good fight.”…”It’s all business. Throw the trash talk out, it’s just all business.”

So as it looks now, scandalous comments aren’t going to be flying between these guys (and clearly Dad jokes are out), but that doesn’t mean the rematch can’t be a thoroughly entertaining and violent affair.

MMA Top 10 Lightweights: Edgar Is the Best, Maynard on His Heels

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, LightweightsNo one can doubt Frankie Edgar anymore.

After Edgar beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision in April, a lot of people believed that the fight was a fluke, that the judges erred, and that Penn wa…

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No one can doubt Frankie Edgar anymore.

After Edgar beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision in April, a lot of people believed that the fight was a fluke, that the judges erred, and that Penn was still the best lightweight in mixed martial arts. But now that Edgar has defeated Penn once again at UFC 118, there’s no room for debate: Edgar is the undisputed champion.

Except that Edgar has one loss on his record, and that one loss is to Gray Maynard, who has been anointed the next challenger to Edgar’s title. Maynard could make a case that he deserves to be considered the top fighter in the division, but unless he makes that case again in the cage, I’m sticking with Edgar at No. 1. The rest of the rankings are below.

Florian Says Wrestling Ability, Not Mental Game Responsible for UFC 118 Loss

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveUFC president Dana White saw Kenny Florian’s loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 118 on Saturday night as yet another sign that Florian cracks under the pressure of the big fights, falling short just as he’s about to reach t…

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UFC president Dana White saw Kenny Florian‘s loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 118 on Saturday night as yet another sign that Florian cracks under the pressure of the big fights, falling short just as he’s about to reach the top.

But to hear Florian tell it, the defeat was far more physical than mental.

“I take what Dana said as a compliment because I think he really believes in my skills as a fighter,” Florian told MMA Fighting via email Monday morning. “I was capable of winning the fight but I would have to have fought a very boring fight. I felt great mentally & physically. I have more work to do on my wrestling & have already made the arrangements to become much better in that area of my game.”

It’s not the first time White has taken aim at Florian’s mental game. After his loss to B.J. Penn at UFC 101, White accussed Florian of being less aggressive in title fights, suggesting he had some sort of “mental block” when a belt was on the line.