All this waiting has gotten to Gray Maynard (10-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC). Somewhere along the line, his quest to become lightweight champion has become very personal."This is one that he's worked so many years for, and somebody's dangling it in front of him, and every time he gets close, they just keep pulling it away," Maynard's boxing coach, Gil Martinez, told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
The Las Vegas-based fighter was supposed to vie for the belt against Frankie Edgar at Saturday's UFC 130 event. Edgar withdrew from the fight with injuries to his back and ribs; he said the dropout was unavoidable. But Martinez said Maynard, his fighter, would have fought even with a hobbled knee and a cut face that prevented him from training properly and likely would have put him at a disadvantage in the fight.
Such is Maynard's drive to be champion. When an opportunity arose for him instead to fight former WEC champ turned UFC contender Anthony Pettis, he turned the fight down. Taking a fight against Pettis at less than 100 percent might have cost him a shot at Edgar. And winning the belt was, and is, his biggest priority.
The title rematch is still a go, but with both fighters on the mend, a timetable isn't yet known.
Admitting a passed-on fight is a sure way to get critics on your back, but Maynard doesn't care. They haven't been through what he's been through. He saw the title slip through his fingers at UFC 125 when he nearly knocked out Edgar in the first round and burned too much energy in the process, which allowed the champion to get his bearings and charge back. A split draw ensued, and UFC president Dana White initially said there would be no rematch. The news was devastating.
When White changed his mind, the turnaround from sorrow to ecstasy was so abrupt that Maynard blurted, "I love you" to the most powerful man in MMA. Considering the circumstances, he could be forgiven for getting a bit flowery.
Maynard had dispatched eight consecutive opponents to get his title shot. He fought anyone who was asked of him – one of them being Edgar. He didn't raise a stink when a lackluster win over Nate Diaz put Edgar to the front of the line for a shot at then-champion B.J. Penn at UFC 112. He went on to beat perennial contender Kenny Florian.
Somewhere in there, his patience frayed, Martinez said.
"I believe it did get to him," Martinez said. "If you're going to be fighting for a title and this is what you've been working all these years for – we didn't want to wait any longer. We fought in January first, and were made to wait until May over a broken nose (to Edgar). That's a long time, and Gray just did not want to push this any farther back.
"[UFC 130] probably would have been the best time for Frankie to fight Gray. Because we were having a horrible camp. We couldn't really do anything. He couldn't wrestle because of his knee; he couldn't spar because he had the cut."
It was so bad that Martinez and Maynard's other coaches brought up the possibility of withdrawing from the fight.
"We mentioned a couple of times, 'Maybe this isn't the right time,'" Martinez said. "He wasn't having it. He could have walked in there with one leg, and he would have fought."
So Maynard had to put his foot down when Pettis was offered in lieu of Edgar.
It's not that he didn't or doesn't want to fight the former WEC champ, but the timing isn't right. Nothing can stand in the way of his goal.
"His record shows (that) Gray will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime," Martinez said. "I think if he would have been 100 percent ... we would have taken the fight because Gray is a fighter and he loves to fight, and he's never turned down any fights. If you look at the people he's fought, he's always fought the toughest guys, guys that just don't get beat. Nate Diaz. Jim Miller. Frankie. He doesn't duck anybody.
"Pettis is a good fighter, but I think we have to wait to see what he brings to the table once he starts fighting these UFC fighters. He's a great fighter, and I know we'll eventually end up meeting him. All in due time."
As aggravating as it's been, there is a lesson for Maynard in all this waiting.
"I think at the end when he does get that belt, it's going to be that much better," Martinez said.
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