For this segment of In Perspective, former UFC lightweight title challenger and The Ultimate Fighter 5 contender Gray Maynard spoke with Will Miller about his career experiences, being part of one of the best trilogies of all time, fighting the best 155 pounds had to offer, his thoughts on a hypothetical featherweight fight with BJ Penn, and more. 

As far as being part of arguably the best trilogy in mixed martial arts history, Maynard said that it was cool to be a part of, describing his series of wars with Frankie Edgar as “great” and saying that he hopes people can remember it, and learn from it as far as scoring goes as well. Close scorecards are synonymous with the career of Frankie Edgar, but his second razor-close scrap with Maynard (a split draw) is one of the closest championship fights in UFC history. Edgar’s first pro loss was handed to him by Maynard in 2008. Their epic battles for the lightweight belt are remembered as some of the most electrifying the division has ever offered. 

When it comes to his time on The Ultimate Fighter, Gray described it as being different from a typical fighting experience, and that it was “a reality TV show, all made for TV. We didn’t train the way we usually train.” He states that he was coming into the fold with the goal of “winning the show, getting to the UFC, and fighting the top guys.” When speaking about how being an alum of the show factored into his career, he said that “people got to know you more” and spoke about being more comfortable in the UFC as he fought more.  

Stylistically, Maynard said that the name of the game for him was “about trying to expose the holes in [opponents’] game[s],” finding out what they did and didn’t do well, and that he was good at “looking back through the competition and making changes where I needed to.” In training, he enjoyed sparring, stating that “[it] was always great, a chance to check what’s working and what’s not.” As his career progressed, he sparred less than he did when he was younger, talking about making changes without doing it as much as he formerly did. “You’ll never make it perfect”, he said, “it’s constant striving to get it.” 

Gray fought three out of his last four bouts at featherweight, even though he was a lightweight mainstay in the early part of the 2010s. For his last fight, a UFC 229 lightweight return against Nik Lentz, he “had to go up” because a liver issue caused him to worry about cutting the weight. The featherweight cut was “a good cut, not hard, and I just took care of it.” With regard to being on the UFC 229 card, one of the biggest in MMA history, he said that he was just “here to do my job [and] take care of business.” 

During one specific segment of the interview, Gray was asked about his feelings about a featherweight fight with BJ Penn. Penn, the former two-division champion, is one of the big names that Maynard never got a chance to fight, and he moved to featherweight at about the same time Gray did. “Interesting” was the word Gray attached to the prospect, and he credited Penn with being one of the reasons he got into the sport. However, after the topic of Ryan Hall (a common opponent between the two) came up, he said that Penn “didn’t look into it” and that he did not want to go up against someone who is “not into it, not at the top of their game,” reiterating that his focus was on fighting the best of the best. During a brief foray into the specifics of the Hall fight, it was noted that Maynard, who lost the fight by decision, had practiced Hall’s trademark Imanari roll and “didn’t feel threatened by it” while Hall submitted Penn with the move. 

When it came to discussing opponents Maynard might have liked to fight, he named former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor, saying he was “a good matchup… and a big name.” He does have a laundry list of notable names that he has faced, including Edgar, Lentz, Nate Diaz, Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Jim Miller. Given that McGregor and Maynard do share a common opponent, have fought for gold, and have fought at 155 and 145, they do have more than just a bit in common.