Maynard: “I want to kick this dude’s ass”
As was custom, Gray Maynard got a text from Joe Silva sometime in late May. It said, simply, Huerta. Sept….
As was custom, Gray Maynard got a text from Joe Silva sometime in late May. It said, simply, Huerta. Sept. 16.
Huerta, of course, was Roger Huerta, the embattled lightweight who’s on the last bout of his UFC contract and fighting for his future when the two meet in Oklahoma for UFC Fight Night 19.
Maynard had been lobbying Silva to face Sean Sherk for the last year, to no avail. But Huerta was popular, and that presented an opportunity itself.
His name was big, Maynard told MMAWeekly.com as he sat inside the cage at Xtreme Couture’s gym. It still is. Kind of chose to go a different path in the last year. He’s got heart. He keeps coming at you, and that’s a great fight.
Yes was the immediate reply.
He began training for the fight this week, and recently broke down Huerta footage with boxing coach Gil Martinez to get a better idea of what to focus on.
Their consensus was similar to how most view Huerta: what he lacks in technique, he makes up for in heart.
He says it would be dishonest if he promised an all-out war with the 26-year-old Los Angeles native.
I’m here to win, said Maynard. (I’m not going to say), ‘I think it’s going to be a bloody, an unbelievable throwdown. We’re going to get the fight of the night check.’ To be honest, I don’t even want it to be close. I want to kick this dude’s ass. That’s the plan.