Gray Manyard’s next fight could take place at UFC 90 vs. Rich Clementi
August 21, 2008 by Sam Caplan
Xtreme Couture team member Gray Maynard put his MMA career into high gear after a unanimous decision victory over Frankie Edgar this past April at UFC Fight Night 13. Maynard looked dominant in handing Edgar the first loss of his professional career.
Since that fight, Maynard has been missing in action, thanks largely in part to an injury. However, MMAjunkie.com is reporting that the former standout college wrestler appears set to return to action on Oct. 25 at UFC 90 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill in a lightweight bout with veteran Rich Clementi.
The fight has yet to be finalized but MMA Junkie is quoting sources connected to both camps as saying that signed bout agreements and a formal announcement could come soon.
Clementi is currently on a six fight win streak and holds notable wins in his career over Sam Stout, Melvin Guillard, Ryan Schultz, and Anthony Johnson.
Both Clementi and Maynard are alumni from the Spike TV reality television show “The Ultimate Fighter” with Maynard having appeared on season five and Clementi having been involved with season four, “The Comeback.”
UFC 90 is scheduled to be headlined by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his title against Patrick Cote. A fight between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves in which a winner will be granted a future shot at the UFC welterweight title is also slated as well.
This fight should be pretty exciting, any LW match up these days gets me excited since they have weeded out the guys who don’t belong. I think Edgar is better than Clementi, and I had picked Gray over Edgar. I see a competitive fight but Maynard puttin him away by GnP in round 2. If clementi can keep it on his feet and keep distance, while avoiding that big looping right hand of Gray, it absolutely could go the other way. But I’m sticking with my gut instinct and taking Maynard.
PS. TUF 5 has to be the best of the recent seasons in terms of fighters making it in the UFC. Wiman, Diaz, Maynard are all undefeated since the show. Miller, Lauzon and Emerson each have two wins. And Manny has held his own but a drop to WEC 145 would make him a killer. Corey Hill could be a real force with more hard training considering how tall he is. The rest hardly deserve a mention and are done with the UFC