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Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012

Media Watch: UFC Lightweights Gray Maynard, Joe Lauzon Exchanging Words

Gray Maynard

By Michael Hatamoto

Gray Maynard is desperately trying to get back into UFC lightweight title contention, while former The Ultimate Fighter contestant Joe Lauzon hopes to climb the ladder.

Maynard vs. Lauzon takes place at UFC 155 on December 29, as the UFC looks to wrap up an interesting year.  Both lightweights like to scrap, so it could end up being a very exciting fight for UFC viewers – or Maynard might just try to grind Lauzon down on the mat.

Both fighters are already exchanging words with one another, and that could intensify leading up to the fight over the next three months.

Here is what Maynard told UFC.com:

“Lauzon is saying he asked for this fight and it’s funny because we made the call for it too.  It’s a fight that makes sense for what is going on the division, so let’s do this. I guess he’s a little better with the PR side of things and felt he needed to get to work on that early. It really doesn’t matter to me. We have to fight and I’ll fight that dude anywhere.

I don’t really care what he thinks or the game plan he brings. My focus is on me and being the best I can be for the scrap. He’s built up his name; he looked good in his last fight, and this is an opportunity for me to get a win over an opponent with a solid name.”

Meanwhile, Lauzon posted a brief conversation with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, in which the Boston native was told he asked for the fight with Maynard first.

Who asked for the fight first doesn’t really matter, because they both accepted and it’s going to happen before the end of the year.

I think this is a fight Maynard should win due to better technical boxing and an excellent wrestling pedigree.  Lauzon is a skilled grappler, but it’s going to be hard for him to try and sweep Maynard – or latch on a submission if he defends off his back.

Lauzon may win a lot of fight-night bonuses, but he simply cannot pick up wins against the top echelon of UFC lightweight talent.  Through his UFC career, Lauzon has been finished by the likes of Anthony Pettis, George Sotiropoulos and Kenny Florian, while also losing a decision to Sam Stout.

Maynard is certainly one of the best lightweights in the UFC…

posted by FCF Staff @ 12:17 pm
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