Last month during the UFC 137 festivities, MMASucka.com’s Nick King had the chance to chat with Gray Maynard. In case you don’t remember, Gray mentioned that he would be traveling to the Bay Area. Nick then mentioned AKA and how they were savages, which was the first hint of Gray moving training camps.
Yesterday confirmed those rumors, as HeavyMMA.com had a chance to chat with Maynard about his departure from Xtreme Couture.
Leaving Xtreme Couture is something that has been going through my head for awhile, I know people want to assume the worst, but that isn’t the case. During my camp for Kenny Florian, I started to think about everything that is out there in this sport. A month before my fight with Edgar in Houston, I made my decision.
Being the guy Gray is, he decided to let the fellas at Xtreme Couture know prior to his title fight with Frankie Edgar at UFC 136 so that there were no questions as to why.
I informed the gym (Xtreme Couture) that I would not be coming back. I felt it was important because win or lose, I wasn’t going to return for my training. I did things this way because I didn’t want to win the title and have people thinking I won the belt and left for something else. I made sure to tell them long before my fight on October 8th, so there wasn’t any confusion.
The rumors of him training at AKA were true, however that isn’t the only place he will be doing his work. He mentions he wants to broaden his horizon, so training at numerous locations, wherever and whenever is crucial.
Right now I’m up in Santa Cruz and things are great. There are a few gyms I have been training at. I’ve also spent some time at AKA. They have a great gym, an awesome team and I’m enjoying my time here. At this point my focus is on broadening my horizons and wherever I feel that can be accomplished is where I will go. There is a huge world out there and so many great camps where I can learn so many things. I just want to get out and train with whoever I can. There are so many other camps and so much I can learn, it became something I needed to do. If that means going down to Brazil and training with Jose Aldo, I’d be excited to go. There are a ton of gyms in Holland and to train with Andy Souwer would be something that interests me. There is so much to learn out there and I want to grow.
What are your thoughts on Maynard leaving Xtreme Couture? Was it the right decision? Does he have a shot at the title again?
He is doing what is best for Gray Maynard and if you saw histlast two fights with Edgar, you, too, would be changing training facilities. Frankie had developed much more than Maynard has, since His initial victory over Edgar. Both of the last two fights against Edgar, you can see something was amiss which was not worked on, between the two fights. Not getting the belt he should have gotten, that would make anyone leave. Perhaps AKA can show him what steps he needs to take to finish his opponent, when he has him vulnerable, like Maynard had Edgar both times.