UFC 90: Clementi and Maynard get their chance to shine

For those of you who keep up with MMA, like its presidential politics, you are aware that Goran Reljic is out of UFC 90 due to a back injury sustained in practice. Drew "Massacre" McFedries will step up to the plate and “pinch punch” for the injured Croatian in a fight against Thales Leites.

Leites is surging in the UFC right now, coming off a big split decision win over Nate Marquardt. Thales likes to submit his opponents, via armbar or arm triangle choke. He also has a few TKO’s under his belt but I don’t think he will choose to stand with McFedries.

Drew has heavy hands and likes bang with his opponents. He doesn’t seem to be a fan of the ground though. He had a dramatic submission loss to Martin Kampmann via an arm triangle choke. Looks like a match made in heaven if you’re Thales Leites. Ironically, both of these men have fought Kampmann, both losing to the man from Denmark.

In MMA, like in any sport, opportunity often presents itself at the expense of another. The injury to Reljic will allow Rich Clementi and Gray Maynard to take center stage. Their fight was previously on the under card which would not have been broadcast. Now they will be seen by a large pay-per-view audience and get the chance to build their fan base.

This fight could be marketed as “The Veteran vs. The Rookie”

“No Love” Clementi has been fighting in MMA since 1999 and has 45 professional fights. By contract, Gray “The Bully” Maynard has a 5-0 record and is a collegiate wrestler who missed out on making the Olympics.

Despite a difference of 40 professional fights Maynard has a lot going for him. Earlier in his career he was recruited by BJ Penn as a sparring partner and then coached by BJ on season 6 of TUF. He went on to become a student and training partner of Randy Couture making Gray a part of Xtreme Couture.

In his last fight Maynard went up against Frankie “The Answer” Edgar. Frankie had no answers for Gray’s overpowering wrestling and strength. While Maynard didn’t do significant damage he scored all the takedowns in the fight and was able to control the action from start to finish. The win was impressive considering Frankie was 8-0 at the time and had a significant win over Tyson Griffin earlier in his career.  

In Clementi’s last fight, against Melvin Guillard, he looked better then has in some time. Melvin was all choked up and Clementi looks to be back on top of his game. Against Maynard he will look to continue his win streak which currently sits at 6 in a row. In three of Rich’s last wins he’s been victorious via rear naked choke. He also has the ability to secure the armbar.

Maynard’s strategy against Clementi will likely be to try and take him to the ground and pound him out. Gray is also a good striker but so is Rich so it will be interesting to see how the stand-up game unfolds. Maynard will have to be careful, while on the ground, not to get caught by Clementi’s quality BJJ. Rich is very fluid and is good at avoiding bad situations.

But how will he handle Maynard’s strength advantage? It seems likely Maynard will be able to take him down at some point so Rich will need to avoid enough damage while working for a submission. If this fight makes it to a decision it’s likely that Maynard won. It seems Clementi’s only chance is to sink in the choke because Rich, while having 10 T(KO) victories in his career, doesn’t appear to be strong enough to knock Gray out.

The winner of this fight should secure their spot in the top 10 of the lightweight division.

In the end, I see the winner of this fight being the guy that’s trains with legends. Maynard via decision win over Clementi. I just hope Gray doesn’t choke.