Gray Maynard emerged into the national eye in 2007 at The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale, when he slammed Rob Emerson so hard they were both knocked out and judged unable to continue. It won fight of the night. 

He ten won eight in a row, beating the likes of Frankie Edgar, Kenny Florian, and Nate Diaz. Next he drew with Edgar in a Fight of the Night for the UFC lightweight championship, and was KOed in the immediate rematch.

Then he bounced back with a main event Split Decision win over Clay Guida. That was on June 22, 2012, and he was to lose the next four.

On Friday at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, Maynard, now 37, dropped down to featherweight and took a thrilling unanimous decision over Fernanda Bruno.

I always planned on (winning those other fights), and it was always pretty tough afterward, said Maynard, to Dann Stupp and Ken Hathaway for MMAjunkie. It was like, ‘How am I going to change up stuff? How am I going to change it up – and switching camps?’

I actually had a really good camp. I came out here, and it turned into a backyard brawl. It wasn’t the most clean fight, but it was good to get it and know I had a good camp to push through it. It was nice.

That was a crazy pace. I got a little tired, but I had a good camp, great sparring. I was prepared to pull through it, to dig deep.