One to Watch: Gray Maynard vs. Ryan Hall | FIGHTLAND

Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC

Another weekend, another UFC event. This Saturday sees The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions, the 24^th iteration of the TV show, come to a head in its finale at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event is headlined in a UFC flyweight championship bout between long-time champion Demetrious Johnson against the season’s winner Tim Elliott, a UFC veteran in his own right and Titan FC’s inaugural flyweight champion.

It was a gruelling season of The Ultimate Fighter, with the division’s top champions outside of the UFC all competing for a crack at “Mighty Mouse.” It was a fantastic showcase of one of the most underrated UFC weight classes and a top-tier flyweight contest between the season’s coaches—Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo—serves as the co-main event in a contest that will surely determine the next challenger for the UFC flyweight crown.

In addition, there are intriguing match-ups like Jake Ellenberger vs. Jorge Masvidal and Sara McMann vs. Alexis Davis—the latter contest featuring two of the UFC women’s bantamweight division’s top fighters.

However, the fight between two former contestants of The Ultimate Fighter, Gray “The Bully” Maynard and Ryan “The Wizard” Hall, really catches the eye in a match-up of vastly contrasting styles.

The pair’s respective nicknames perfectly encapsulates the difference in both men’s attitudes, skillsets and fighting style.

Maynard was a top-level collegiate wrestler, who competed at the level of NCAA Division I at Michigan State University alongside former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Before that, both he and WWE’s Dolph Ziggler dominated the Ohio amateur wrestling scene in high school. As his boxing skills developed, Maynard adopted the sprawl and brawl strategy—utilising his wrestling experience to avoid going to ground and dictate the fight on the feet instead—a style which was favoured in mid-2000s MMA and popularised by solid wrestlers such as Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to high levels of success.

Maynard appeared on The Ultimate Fighter season 5—arguably one of the most talented casts in the show’s history with the likes of Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Cole Miller and Manny Gamburyan all featured—was coach B.J. Penn’s pick to win the whole competition. The Bully reached the show’s semi-final stage. But, in a freak moment, it appeared Maynard had knocked himself out after delivering a fierce slam to Rob Emerson in the second round—Emerson immediately tapped out citing an injury to his ribs. With both men deemed unable to continue, the fight was ruled a No Contest.

Hall, however, has stuck to his bread and butter since transitioning from a master on the jiu jitsu mats to the cage. The American black belt, who originally hails from Virginia, has medalled in the Mundials, ADCC and has one multiple world and continental championships in his discipline. On season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter, a season which pitted the USA, a team under the tutelage of Urijah Faber, versus Conor McGregor’s European team. After a pull-out from Team Europe’s finalist in Saul Rodgers, Hall stepped in as replacement in the season finale and defeated SBG Ireland’s Artem Lobov to win season 22 and claim a lucrative UFC contract. Hall impressed on the show with his array of leg lock techniques and Maynard is his first test since winning his iteration of the show after a year out of action.

Maynard’s combination of solid boxing fundamentals and extensive history in wrestling saw him enjoy early success in the UFC. Following a knockout win against Joe Veres, Maynard won a string of dull wrestling-centric decision victories over top-level lightweight names such as Dennis Siver, Frankie Edgar, Nate Diaz, Rich Clementi Jim Miller, Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. This didn’t earn him many fans. But, Maynard had worked his way to get his name mentioned in the title mix.

Maynard got his long-awaited title shot against a former opponent in Edgar, who had just solidified his position as the division’s champ with a comprehensive decision win over B.J. Penn. In a Fight of the Night winning contest, the pair fought to a split draw at UFC 125. Maynard had Edgar in all sorts of trouble in the opening round, knocking his smaller opponent down on multiple occasions. Seemingly out on his feet, Edgar rallied to produce a stirring comeback from the second round onwards. The pair had their rematch at UFC 136 and it followed a similar routine with Maynard trouble Edgar early once again. But, as always with Edgar, the New Jersey native rallied and eventually finished the comeback by stopping Maynard in the fourth round to retain the belt and hand Maynard his first official loss.

Maynard got back on the winning track after the Edgar contest by defeating Clay Guida by split decision in a bizarre fight which saw Guida run away from Maynard for the majority of it. This looked set to give Maynard another chance at competing for the lightweight title he yearned for. But, Maynard hit an alarming slump in fighting form. In a fight UFC president Dana White claimed would determine the number one contender, TJ Grant knocked Maynard out in the first round. After that, he lost to Nate Diaz and then bruising Brit Ross Pearson both by knockout, before losing to Alexander Yakovlev by unanimous decision. Since the fight he drew with Edgar, Maynard lost five—four by TKO or knockout—and only won two. One of those two wins came in his last outing, where he Fernando Bruno by unanimous decision in his featherweight debut.

Hall made his MMA debut aged 21, losing a unanimous decision to Eddie Fyvie back in 2006. After that, Hall focused extensively on his grappling which saw him earn various top-level medals and plenty of plaudits during his hiatus away from mixed martial arts. It would take six years for Hall to compete in MMA again and he has not looked back since—earning five straight professional wins (not counting those on TUF) with two coming by way of TKO and two by submission; one of which was his patented heel hook.

Hall was expected to face Alex White at UFC Fight Night 91 in July. But, White had to pull out of the fight less than two weeks before its planned date citing injury. Maynard certainly poses a bigger threat than White—despite his slump in form—and will prove a stern test for Hall in his UFC debut proper. The Wizard may be deemed to be one of the best grapplers to be competing in MMA at present. But, he remains a bit of a wildcard at present due to not fighting any top competition before Saturday.

Maynard may be 37 years old. But, he appears rejuvenated as a featherweight since making the ten pound cut from 155lbs. As a result, he doesn’t feel another run at a UFC title is totally unfathomable. “I feel like I’m always the top guy. That’s why I’m still doing it,” Maynard told the Review Journal. The title is always important. I got into this sport to be the best, to have the belt, to be at the top.

I’m still doing this sport because of that. If I didn’t believe in that, I’d be out. It’s just a dream I really feel like I haven’t attained yet and I should have. It’s right there. I’ve just got to take it.It’s just another step. I don’t really look at a certain opponent or style and think, ‘I can win against this or that.’ I’ve been with the UFC for 10 years. There’s no good or bad matchups. It’s just always about taking the next step.”

Can Maynard make that next step in his new adventure at 145lbs? Or will Hall prove just how good he is within the confines of a cage? I can’t wait to find out either way—make sure this is your One to Watch this weekend.