At UFC 160 the next lightweight contender was set as T.J. Grant defeated Gray Maynard in impressive fashion.
The number one contender match-up took only 127-seconds to complete, as Grant stunned the fans and lightweight champion Benson Henderson by dropping Maynard. The fight earned the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native “Knockout of the Night” honours and a chance to face Henderson at a later date.
Henderson was a guest on this week’s episode of “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani and he admitted that he had already been setting up in his mind that he would be fighting Maynard. To his ‘surprise’ Grant will be his next foe.
“I am a little bit surprised. I think most people had Gray winning. Most people picked Gray to win and not only did T.J. prove everyone wrong, but in the manner and in the fashion that he did it, pretty impressive performance for him. I did (think Maynard was going to win). I thought Gray was going to be the next guy I faced. I was already kind of preparing for that and now I got a new guy to prepare for. I don’t know a whole lot about T.J. to be honest. I know he’s 5-0 at 155 now, he used to be a 170 pounder. From what I’ve seen of him, from the promos and highlights and stuff, he doesn’t seem too flashy. He’s one of those guys, a grinder, good fundamentals and solid. It is going to be my job to learn about him the next month or so to get ready for him.” – transcribed by MMAmania.com
Grant has won his last five fights setting up this title fight and the champ, Henderson, is on a seven fight winning streak. Since winning the title from Frankie Edgar at UFC 144, he has defended it three times.
The bout between Henderson and Grant has been rumored to be on the UFC on FOX Sports 1 1 card on August 17 in Boston, Mass.
Grant may not be a household name to many yet, but he is looking to make a statement against Henderson.
