Gray Maynard: The Lightweight Division's Future King

Being such a huge MMA fan and a long time martial artist I tend to get asked several questions from friends and family members about the sport.  One of the more popular questions I have answered recently has been about my opinion on the future of MMA.

Everyone wants to know who I think is going to be a future champion and dominate their weight class for years to come, the GSP of the future so to speak. This sport is so unpredictable but the one guy who I have the most confidence in right now is…Gray “The Bully” Maynard.

Maynard (7-0-1) is a veteran of the hit reality series “The Ultimate Fighter Season 5” and despite not winning the competition he has still managed to obtain the most success coming off of that show than anyone else who competed alongside him on the reality series.

Known for his overwhelmingly strong wrestling base, Maynard has been dominant in all of his UFC fights with wins over the likes of Frankie Edgar, Rich Clementi, and Jim Miller.

His most recent fight against Miller was his most impressive performance to date and it’s a fight where he showcased his improved stand up skills and proved to the world that he’s so much more than “just a wrestler."

I know certain fans criticize Maynard for being a “boring”/”lay n’ pray” style fighter but I think he shut a lot of people up after his dominant win over Jim Miller and proved that he is evolving into a well rounded mixed martial arts fighter.

I already consider Maynard a top 10 Lightweight and I personally think he will win that 155 lb championship in a couple more years or less and I am about to explain why in detail.

First of all I really cannot see anyone in the UFC’s Lightweight division outwrestling Gray Maynard.

Call me crazy but I don’t even think Sean Sherk (former UFC Lightweight champion) will be able to take Maynard down and control him and we all know how dominant a wrestler Sean Sherk is so that alone tells you how confident I am in Maynard’s wrestling ability.

Gray Maynard’s wrestling gives him the advantage in the sense that he can control wherever he wants the fight to go—if he wants to keep it standing he can keep it standing and if he wants to take it to the ground he can obviously do that as well; basically he can dictate the pace of his fights.

However if you think Maynard is just a one dimensional wrestler than you must have difficulty paying attention because like I mentioned before his stand up is constantly improving and is starting to look very crisp and powerful.

Gray has been working hard with his new boxing coach, Gil Martinez and has been following in the footsteps of fellow TUF alumni Josh Koscheck and Rashad Evans in shying away from the “boring one dimensional wrestler” reputation and evolving into an exciting fighter that is dangerous in all areas of the game.

However he still has a lot of holes in his striking and guys like B.J Penn and Kenny Florian would pick Gray apart in a stand up battle but I’m confident Gray will continue to improve and fix these “holes."

I also believe that Maynard’s Jiu-Jitsu ability is vastly underrated and just like his striking, is constantly improving each day he trains. Usually wrestlers like Maynard have an easier time learning the art of Jiu-Jitsu because they are so used to the movements on the ground.

I’m not saying transitioning from wrestling to Jiu-Jitsu is easy as pie because it’s still very hard to learn and wrestlers especially have a hard time dealing with being put on their backs but Maynard is a quick learner and I think he’s picking up the Jiu-Jitsu pretty well.

Another thing I really like about Maynard is his work ethic and his attitude. He’s one of the hardest workers in the sport and he’s the type of guy that never complains about anything.

I could only wish more people were like Gray Maynard because I personally am getting tired of listening to whiny little complainers bickering about how badly their life sucks when they have no idea how lucky they are to have warm food on the table and a house to live in!

In closing fighting is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical and Gray Maynard has the mentality of a true champion and mixed in with his always improving skill set I think this guy is going to become one of the true legends of mixed martial arts someday!

I hope you guys enjoyed this article and if you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to send me a comment on this page and I will answer to the best of my ability.