A win is a win when it comes to mixed martial arts, but when it happens in the kind of fight that Gray Maynard had with Clay Guida in the main event of UFC on FX 4 on Friday night, it just doesn't feel quite as sweet.
After coming off the first loss of his career in 2011 against Frankie Edgar, Maynard was looking to assert himself back in the top of the UFC's 155-pound division with a win over a fellow top contender. Maynard, who has been criticized in the past by some for his grinding wrestling style, was put up against one of the UFC's most active and entertaining lightweights, Clay Guida.
On paper, the fight looked like it'd be a great one as Guida's excellent takedown defense would make it tough for Maynard to bring the fight to the ground, thus resulting in what many believed would be a spirited brawl. Maynard himself even thought that'd be the case.
“I was getting flustered, of course," Maynard told UFC on Fuel TV's Ariel Helwani. "I thought it was going to be a brawl.”
The frustration was evident as he chased Guida around the cage, even flipping the bird at him and mouthing obscenities at the Team Jackson fighter.
“He was all over the place," he said. “He had a plan, but you’ve got to change that up a little bit. You can’t hit and then move all the way across [the cage].”
“It’s a fight, you know?”
Guida's style in the fight couldn't have been predicted by anyone and that might have played a part in why referee Dan Miragliotta took so long before finally opting to warn Guida for literally running away in the fifth round.
While others have commented a point should have been taken from Guida for the timidity he showed throughout the fight, with a win now under his belt, Maynard isn't ready to suggest that Miragliotta made a bad decision.
“That would’ve been nice for me, but I’m not trying to tell people how to do their jobs. I’m just trying to do my job," he said.
With a UFC record of 9-1-1, Maynard is ready to get back into title contention.
“I was hungry for this fight. I’m hungry for the belt," he said. “An [Frankie] Edgar fight is always good, but the whole goal is the belt and the top of the world.”
Los Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Miami Heat Milwaukee Bucks Minnesota Timberwolves New Jersey Nets
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen