Fight Updates Featuring Gray Maynard and Rich Franklin: Fan’s Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

On March 18, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced two fights for their summer series of events. A former UFC lightweight title contender will headline the June 22 UFC on FX card and a former UFC middleweight champion will be a part of UFC 148 on July 7.

Former UFC lightweight title contender, Gray Maynard will headline the UFC on FX card against Clay Guida. This fight will be the main event, giving UFC fans up to five rounds of exciting lightweight action.

Guida is one of the most popular fighters in the division and with a 9-6 record inside the Octagon (29-12 overall), he is one of the most successful. Heading into his last fight with Benson Henderson, all Guida needed to reach a title shot was win. Unfortunately for him, Henderson had his number that night, leaving Guida back in the middle of the pack, looking for a way back up.

Maynard is 10-1-1-1NC during the course of his career, including 8-1-1-1NC in his UFC career. He was the only man to defeat Frankie Edgar until Henderson did so at UFC 144 and has beaten some of the best lightweights in the world, including Jim Miller, Roger Huerta, Nate Diaz and Kenny Florian.

The only fight announced for UFC 148 is a middleweight contest between former UFC middleweight champion, Rich Franklin, and striking expert, Cung Le.

Franklin was most recently seen in the Octagon losing to Forrest Griffin at UFC 126 last February and is 2-3 overall in his past five. At 37, "Ace" is nearing the end of a successful career that saw him as the face of the middleweight division until the Spider, Anderson Silva, came to the states.

At the age of 39, Le will make his second appearance in the UFC. In his debut bout last November, Le lost to Wanderlei Silva via TKO in the second round. Another loss could send the striking guru into retirement without having a chance to prove himself on the biggest stage in the sport.

For a look at the best fights for some of the most popular fighters in the UFC and 2011 division recaps, go here.

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Hobson Lopes has been a fan of mixed martial arts since the days of Tank Abbott and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.

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