Gray Maynard: “The victory was important, but I like to fight.”

Last night UFC lightweight Gray Maynard picked up his first win inside the Octagon in nearly two years after fighting to a Draw with Frankie Edgar in early 2011 and then losing in the rematch nine months later. However, rather show than any real sense of relief, Maynard exited the ring with an obvious look of frustration on his face based on the way opponent Clay Guida approached their bout.

Guida, who has always been one of the sport’s more active fighters, opted to dance around throughout the bulk of their headlining bout at UFC on FX 4 rather than engage for more than a few seconds at a time.

The 11-1-1 Maynard addressed the issue in an interview with the UFC shortly after the conclusion of their bout where he pleaded his case in terms of the source of his aggravation.

“The victory was important, but I like to fight. I like to use my skills. I like to feel another person fighting,” explained the former title-contender. “And he came with a little plan, I guess. Some stick and move type stuff. And that’s cool. But you can’t move that much. You can’t turn your back and move away from me.”

“They were trying to take all the ‘chance’ away. You’ve gotta fight. You’ve gotta take chances, so you’ve gotta stay in the pocket a little bit and throw. They weren’t trying to give me a chance,” he concluded.

As far as his next fight, Maynard made it clear he’s still interested in a fourth go at Edgar to truly serve as a tiebreaker.

Check out the complete interview with Maynard below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/06/23/gray-maynard-%e2%80%9cthe-victory-was-important-but-i-like-to-fight-%e2%80%9d/

Dave Gomez Keith Hackney Matt Hamill Volk Han Joachim Hansen