Issue 058
January 2010
One of the most outstanding and powerful wrestlers in the lightweight division, Gray Maynard is undefeated in professional MMA and rising through the lightweight ranks at an alarming pace. Amazingly, he’s only been in the sport for three years, and the best is very much to come.
Before he rose to the attention of the MMA world, Maynard was an ex-wrestler quietly training in a room in Las Vegas with some rather well-known MMA fighters. “We were just going in a room and sparring, you know, Jay Hieron, Mike Pyle, Forrest Griffin, Randy Couture. There was about eight of us and it was just kind of, like, we’d beat the shit out of each other,” he chuckles. The men who joined together for this sparring would form the core of the Xtreme Couture gym, of which Gray is a founding member. He’s been there since the very beginning (before they had mats on the floor, even) and now Xtreme Couture is considered one of the best gyms in the world.
It was at the time of the formation of the gym that Gray received his big break. He was selected as a member for TUF 5, which saw 16 lightweight fighters compete for a contract with the UFC under rival coaches BJ Penn and Jens Pulver. “I was only doing MMA for a year, and I was in a camp where there wasn’t any coaching or classes,” he says. “This was before the gym [Xtreme Couture]. I went on the TV show and obviously, the show was a little bit weird. It’s reality; but it’s anything but reality. I knew right when it was done that I needed to get to work and get coaches and learn. It isn’t just a scrap; you’ve got to know everything.”
Maynard impressed with his appearance on the show. Proving himself to be a powerful and aggressive scrapper he was BJ Penn’s first pick for the blue team, and made it to the semifinals before succumbing to the jiu-jitsu of overall winner Nate Diaz. Few people knew that, prior to appearing on TUF 5, Gray had been invited to Hawaii to help Penn (who was in need of strong wrestlers) to prepare for his second fight with Matt Hughes. “On the TV show, I’d just got going; I’d only been training for about a year. After the show I knew there was a lot of stuff I had to do, so I had to get going pretty quick. It was like, ‘I’m here now, it’s only going to get tougher and tougher every time.’”
His first fight in the UFC proper was on the undercard of the TUF 5 finale, but he was the victim of a bizarre accident that saw his fight with Rob Emerson ruled a no-contest. Maynard hoisted Emerson into the air and slammed him to the mat. Emerson tapped out due to the effect of the impact, and as the referee stepped in to separate them Gray rolled off unconscious. In slamming Emerson down, he had inadvertently spiked himself headfirst into the canvas and knocked himself out.
This unfortunate incident aside, the UFC liked what they saw and he was invited back. “I was kind of eased into it,” he says of his early days with the promotion. “I just kept in the gym – I knew that I had to get good, quick!” he laughs.
Getting good has been Maynard’s focus since those early days of his career, and the progress he has made has been astonishing when you consider the limited amount of time he has been in the sport. “It’s a new sport, you’ve got all these things, boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, you’ve got all these things you have to train and there aren’t enough hours in the day,” he says with a shrug. “I’ll try to hit it three times a day and keep that going, and you’re like, ‘wait a second, my body’s dead’. The sport has come a long way but it has a long way to go and it’s changing every day and I’m trying to keep up.”
Three years on from being ‘just’ a wrestler, Maynard has developed as a fighter and is now a well-rounded MMA fighter, able to compete in every range, and not just a scrapper. His wrestling is still his strongest asset, although his jiu-jitsu has improved (witness his attempt at ripping Roger Huerta’s arm off for evidence).
Possibly the most stunning improvement has been in his boxing ability, which is down to the work of one man: boxing trainer Gil Martinez. “Gil Martinez changed me. When I went up against [Denis] Siver, I was of the attitude that it’s a brawl, I wasn’t really working with anyone. I was kind of more about sparring and not really growing, which worked until a point. I got in there, and it was a really good scrap and we were going at it and we were throwing. I watched the tape, and I was like, ‘You know what? This is ugly!’ It was a lot of swinging; it was a scrap.
“Right after that I asked for [Frankie] Edgar, so I was getting prepared for camp and I was like, ‘I need a guy, bad’. I hooked up with Gil and he changed everything, he broke it down. He has a small gym with kids anywhere from 12 to however old, and I can’t hit them! I’m in there and I’m like, ‘What the hell is this? He ain’t standing there trading!’ I’ve glued to him ever since. You start breaking down the sport and it’s boxing with a ton of small stuff, angles – a lot to learn. I’ve been with him a little less than two years. I spar with good guys, unbelievable. He has some tough kids. He’s helped me out so much, I can’t even... It was perfect. He told me I had to change it up and I listened to every word he told me.”
This relationship with Martinez has meant Maynard’s whole outlook on fighting has changed. No longer does he want to get in there and brawl. Upon the advice of Martinez, he’s now taking a more scientific approach to his striking. “I came to Gil, I was like ‘I can take a punch, don’t worry about me, it’s good’. He said ‘it ain’t about that, don’t take a punch if you don’t need to’. We worked on all this stuff, it wasn’t really about punching, it was all about movement, movement. Then it was all about the snap. It’s still going, there is a lot to learn, but he helped me out loads.”
Next up for Maynard is a rematch with the only fighter to have ever beaten him: Nate Diaz. Though the loss to Diaz does not show on his record (as it was on the TV show it was considered an exhibition bout) Maynard still feels the sting of the defeat. “I got beat against Nate [on the show]. I’m not the kind of guy who can say, ‘Oh now, that was the TV show, it doesn’t count.’ It counts! It was real tough [losing to Diaz], as that was to go into the finals. It was big – it was tough to take,” he says.
Both men have enjoyed successful careers with the UFC since making their name on The Ultimate Fighter. Diaz has suffered his first losses in the UFC this year (to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson) but is still considered one of the most dangerous lightweight fighters out there. “I knew the rematch would come just because he’s good. He kept going [through the ranks], so I knew it would come,” says Gray. “I couldn’t just say I wanted Nate, I had to concentrate on whoever was next at the time.”
Nate Diaz has carved a reputation for himself as one of the most dangerous submission fighters in the lightweight division. No longer simply known as Nick Diaz’s little brother, he has built his profile with a series of submission victories over very credible opponents. Just as Maynard has improved, so has Diaz. “He’s just a tough kid, and trains a lot,” says Gray. “They [Nate and Nick] are both tough, they train a lot of jiu-jitsu, a lot of cardio, boxing – they’re very alike. He’s a tricky guy, so we’re going to have to have a good plan.”
Should Maynard win against Diaz come January, he will move one step closer to the lightweight title. There are a couple of hungry 155lb’ers hovering around the upper end of the rankings, and Gray knows that he is among them. “People have told me that if I win against Nate I’ll have a title shot, that’s what has been going around,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter until someone says, ‘Gray, it’s your time.’ I’ve got to concentrate on Nate, if I don’t beat him it’ll never come.”
Should the title shot be presented to him, Gray will be faced with a difficult proposition. At the time of writing BJ Penn is the lightweight champion [and fights Diego Sanchez in December]. If Maynard is given his chance at the title, then he may be called up to face the man who coached him on TUF. “He’s got a huge name, people love him. He’s been around for a long time,” says Maynard of Penn. “It would be a great opportunity to go up against a guy who has changed the sport and has a name that is going to go down in history. People will be like, ‘I remember that guy, BJ Penn was unbelievable’ for years.
“I’m training and I’ve been doing this since I was three,” he says, referring to wrestling and competing. “I’ve been doing this a long time, I don’t care who it is, I’m going in to win. If you have a doubt, then that’s when you’re going to lose. I can beat BJ Penn... whoever it is. I’m going in to win. If you’re not, you shouldn’t be there.”
Though the last three years have been a busy time and seen a lot of change, things are pretty much the same for Gray away from the ring. He enjoys spending time with his pit bull, riding his motorbike or hitting the lake for some wakeboarding. “Life changed a little bit. People are like, ‘Hey that’s Gray Maynard!’” Gray says about his fame as a fighter. “I just try to keep in the gym, go home, do my thing. I’m a routine kind of guy.”
Considering how far Maynard has come in the three years he has been involved in the sport, it is staggering to think how much he could potentially achieve. “I’m at the beginning still. I’m looking for maybe eight more years,” he says. “It’s cool though. It’s a great sport and I enjoy it. I’m having a great time, and I like to fight. It’s a fun sport and a great job, and I’m enjoying it. Enjoy the ride!”
TUF 5: Where are they now?
The Ultimate Fighter 5 saw the influx of a bunch of hungry and talented lightweight fighters, the first time the TV show had focused on just one weight class. Since the show took place, in 2007, many of the cast members have gone on to enjoy successful careers in the UFC and elsewhere.
Joe Lauzon
Boston-based Lauzon has won many fans since TUF 5 thanks to his all-out fighting style and slick submissions. He has lost only once, to fellow Boston fighter Kenny Florian.
Rob Emerson
Since he and Gray partook in their now-infamous fight on the TUF 5 finale, Emerson has fought four times in the UFC, and will next fight on UFC 109 against Phillipe Nover.
Corey Hill
Eccentric and entertaining on the show, 6’4” Corey Hill suffered a ghastly injury late last year when he snapped his lower leg in an undercard bout on UFC: Fight for the Troops. He was expected to be out for up to 18 months, and will hopefully return in 2010.
Cole Miller
ATT fighter Miller has stepped into the Octagon five times since the show and will return in January to face off against Dan Lauzon, brother of Joe, on UFC 108.
Manny Gamburyan
Cousin of Karo Parisyan, the stocky and aggressive Gamburyan lost to Nate Diaz in the TUF 5 finale when his shoulder popped out during a takedown attempt. After four fights in the UFC (where he went 2-2) he dropped to 145lb and joined the ranks of the WEC.
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