ESPN's MMA Live Episode 25 covers everything from UFC 90 in Chicago this past weekend and breaks down next week's WEC 36, which features Urijah Faber vs. Mike Thomas in Hollywood, Fla.
MMAInsider caught up with UFC lightweight Gray Maynard on Wednesday to get his thoughts on his performance against Rich Clementi at UFC 90.
Maynard was coming back from a few days of country breakfasts and R & R with his sister in Lansing, Michigan. Maynard wrestled alongside Rashad Evans at Michigan State University and was a three-time All-American.
Maynard took a lot of flack for the Clementi fight, not the least of which was booing when the decision was handed down. It was a new experience for the TUF 5 alum, and not a nice feeling.
"I hate it, because there were a lot of boos, and that sucks," he said. "I just feel that it was like 'that fight sucked.' And I don't want that. But that was pretty much how it had to go."
Maynard felt the two were even on their feet. Clementi's southpaw antics had him frustrated. So he went back to his proven strength: wrestling.
"He came out and threw a kick, and I was like, whoa," Maynard continued. "Don't get caught with a crazy kick and get KO'd. I was like, alright, this is kind of even, and I don't want it to go to the cards pretty close. So I was like, let's take him down."
He met even more resistance on the ground. Clementi's jiu-jitsu cancelled out his wrestling. A few big elbows and punches found their place, but as the fight wore on, Maynard's opportunities shrank.
"He was just really tough to score on," Maynard said. "He has a good guard, tricky. He tied me up really good. I don't know."
Maynard had been studying with boxing coach Gil Martinez for eight weeks, so the worst part was not being able to showcase his stand-up skills. Both Martinez and coach Randy Couture told him it wasn't his most exciting performance, but it was a smart game plan. In Maynard's young career, Couture has consistently told him to be more patient.
"I used to just go out and scrap," Maynard said. "It's just me, I guess. I'm a guy who wants to dominate, and I box everyday with pros, and I want to prove it too. I can't wait to prove it."
It's not exactly news that fights between wrestlers and jiu-jitsu artists can stalemate quickly. But that's no consolation for the Xtreme Couture lightweight.
"I've been talking to the cows," Maynard jokes about chasing his blues away. "And the crazy thing is, they've been taking back."
The last ever Elite XC middleweight champion, Robbie Lawler, recently updated his blog on his personal website, Robbie-Lawler.com, where he talked about the recent demise of the company and he had good things to say about his time with the promotion.
"As everyone knows Elite XC is no longer around. I enjoyed my time working for them and I was treated really well. Thank you to everyone at Pro Elite for the opportunity to fight in front of millions of fans."
The internet started buzzing over the weekend when Lawler was spotteed at UFC 90 and speculation began running that he may sign with the promotion where he basically started his career.
While Lawler did not confirm or deny anything, he believes his future is very bright.
"Last week I spent at the UFC with Matt Hughes. The atmosphere was awesome as usual. I spent time talking to Monte Cox about what my options are. I also had a brief conversation with the very busy prez of the UFC. All that said I think I will be just fine. I will blog when I sign with an organization. Until then I will keep myself in good shape."
Along with Elite XC welterweight champion Jake Shields, Lawler is one of the top prospects that will be rumored to end up with the UFC at the end of the day.
UFC President Dana White presents his sixth blog for the UFC 90 weekend. In this edition, Dana takes us behind the scenes at the Allstate Arena for UFC 90. Some of Dana's special guests in this blog entry include UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, interim heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, welterweight beltholder Georges St. Pierre, middleweight champ Anderson Silva, and many of the other fighters from UFC 90.
UFC President Dana White presents his fifth blog for the UFC 90 weekend. In this edition, Dana takes us behind the scenes at the UFC 90 weigh-ins and the fighter rules meeting with special guests like Playboy covergirl Rachelle Leah, the Tapout Crew, Matt Serra, and more.
There is a star-studded cast of international fighters in Chicago this week for UFC 90, including a strong contingent of Brazilian fighters. A couple of the more prominent fighters from Brazil informed MMAInsider that, not surprisingly, they are heading to Japan for New Year's Eve.
Gesias "JZ" Calvancante said that he has healed up from his injuries and will be fighting during Japan's biggest MMA time of year. The deal hasn't been completely finalized yet, but he plans on fighting Dream champion Joachim Hansen, as previously reported by MMAWeekly.com.
Of course, with Japan's penchant for changing up fights at the last minute, you never know.
In town to corner Thales Leites, Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro said that he whole-heartedly plans on fighting in Japan on New Year's Eve as well. He still is under contract with Dream and will fight, but he has yet to be given an opponent.
Kind of sliding in under the radar is Shaolin's recent decision to pull up roots and come to America. About four months ago, according to him, he moved to Jersey City, N.J. and now has his own academy open in mid-town Manhattan.
MMAInsider is live in attendance for all the activities surrounding UFC 90 this weekend in Chicago. Friday was weigh-in day. Here are a few of the scoops and tidbits to come out of the event so far.
Thales Leites, coming off of a controversial split decision win over Nate Marquardt, had no trouble making weight on Friday, weighing in at 186 pounds for his fight against Drew McFedries. Leites spent a good portion of the rest of his day on Friday refueling and says he'll likely be about 202 pounds come fight time on Saturday night. That is a huge recovery in just 24 hours!
How does UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva relax when he's waiting around? He plays soccer of course... well, he plays soccer on his PSP.
MMAInsider ran into Spencer Fisher and Matt Hume at Boarders after the weigh-ins. Fisher trained specifically with Hume for this fight. Though he is a representative of Miletich Fighting Systems, Fisher felt he needed to get out and try something new to freshen up his game.
Manager Monte Coxe and associated fighters like Rich Franklin, who has also traveled northwest to Washington state to train with Hume recently, suggested Hume. Fisher says he really benefited from the change in scenery and working with Hume.
We shall see at UFC 90 as Fisher steps into the Octagon to face Shannon Gugerty, who arrives with an 11-2 record and Dean Lister in his corner.
Fighter Sitings - other fighters in town to work the corner, show support, or just hang out include: Gina Carano, Kim Couture, Randy Couture, Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, Tim Sylvia, Gesias "JZ" Calvancante, Dave "The Crow" Louiseau, Rory Markham, Miguel Torres, Jay Hieron, Mike Pyle, Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes, Clay Guida, and more.
Lame Siting: Just 24 hours before the UFC takes over Allstate Arena, who is occupying the building? Not much of an opening act for the toughest sport on the planet... New Kids on the Block.
UFC President Dana White presents his fourth blog for the UFC 90 weekend. In this edition, Dana heads over to the UFC 90 press conference and talks with the media in attendance about the downfall of ProElite and EliteXC, and then does ESPN radio with Steve Cofield.
He really layed into EliteXC again, saying, "Guys that (expletive) fix fights shouldn't be in the business... I don't need scumbags like that blowing it for everybody."
MMA Live from ESPN hits with the latest episode featuring special guest analyst, Stephan Bonnar. The crew talks Elite XC and UFC 90 coming up this weekend.
MMAInsider is live in attendance for all the activities surrounding UFC 90 this weekend in Chicago. Today was the pre-fight press conference and these are a few of the scoops to come out of the event so far.
- UFC 90 currently has sold 10,081 tickets for a live gate at this time of $2.7 million, the largest in Allstate Arena's history.
- Thiago Alves has answered the question many times already, but he once again reassured the crowd in attendance that he would indeed make weight for his fight against Josh Koscheck on Saturday night.
"I'm going to make weight," Alves said simply.
- UFC President Dana White is also virtually guaranteeing Alves makes his weight saying, "If he doesn't, we're going to drag him downstairs and stone him to death."
(On a sidenote - please make weight Thiago)
Stay tuned to the MMAInsider's Blog for more information as it becomes available from UFC 90.
UFC President Dana White takes you behind the scenes of UFC 90 as he prepares for the production side of the show. Also catch training footage of UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, and other fighters competing on this weekend's card.
UFC lightweight contender, Kenny Florian, and his brother Keith, have opened their own training center in Brookline, Mass to help build and teach MMA to new students throughout the area.
In the following video, Keith demonstrates some grappling techniques while Kenny explains what students will learn training while at the Florian Martial Arts Center.
UFC President Dana White presents his second blog for the UFC 90 weekend. In this edition, Dana talks about the downfall of ProElite and EliteXC as well as a beef with radio host and former Yamma announcer, Scott Farrell.
"Obviously today is a great day in MMA, ProElite is dead... so today is a good day," says White in this latest edition of his UFC 90 video blog.
UFC President Dana White's UFC 90 video blog. This first episode focuses on The Ultimate Fighter tryouts in London for season 9 including some great behind the scenes footage showing some of the fighters grappling and sparring. Plus a little bit with Michael Bisping talking about the stitches in his ear following his UFC 89 fight with Chris Leben.
This is the Ultimate Fighting Championship's official promotional video for UFC 90 in Chicago. The Oct. 25 fight card features a main event between current middleweight king Anderson "The Spider" Silva and Canadian Patrick Cote.
The main card is scheduled to air live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT: -Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight in the world)* vs. Patrick Cote -Thiago Alves (#3 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Diego Sanchez (#8 Welterweight in the World)* -Fabricio Werdum (#6 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Junior dos Santos -Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk -Thales Leites vs. Goran Reljic
Copyright 2009 MMA Weekly LLC. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of MMA Weekly content is expressly prohibited without expressed written consent of MMA Weekly. MMA Weekly will not be liable for any errors in content or any action taken in reliance thereof.
MMA Insider Blog RSS Feed
