Surging lightweights Gray Maynard (5-0) and Rich Clementi (32-12-1) will collide at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Ill., on October 25, according to Sherdog.com.
“The Bully” has kept his professional win streak intact inside the Octagon, winning three straight fights since a bizarre simultaneous knockout/tapout against Rob Emerson at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 Finale in June 2007.
He sustained a broken hand in his unanimous decision win over Frank Edgar his last time out, which has kept him on the sidelines until now. It was a big win for Maynard, proving that he belongs near the top of the crowded 155-pound division.
And a win over “No Love” would only bolster that claim.
Clementi, however, will not go down without a fight. He’s on a blistering six-fight tear, winning seven of his last nine fights since appearing on TUF 4 in 2006. Clementi is a very dangerous veteran who could catch the aggressive, forward-charging Maynard in a submission if he’s not careful.
This is a solid match up. To check out all the rest slated and rumored for UFC 90 click here.
58 Comments »
WOW!!! This is going to be good! Clementi has been on a tear lately! This is a perfect test for Maynard!
This is turning into one sweet card.
Maynard is going to Manhandle Rich, Rich is going to be a stepping stone in Maynards way up to a title shot.
I dunno about that. Rich has been tearin it up lately.
yea tough fight to call!!
Rich hasn’t fought anybody that really is impressive to me, or anyone that would have beat Maynard IMO. Marnard is going to toss rich around like he did to Frank Edgar.
That’s a possibility, but Edgar could probably fight at 145 and Rich has fought at 170. Rich will be a great test to see where maynard stands. It will be an interesting fight.
I’m not saying it’s not going to be a good fight, I just see Maynard Winning a war.
You said
“Maynard is going to Manhandle Rich, Rich is going to be a stepping stone in Maynards way up to a title shot.”
The match ups on the next few cards are awesome. Things are really shaping up. This is another great matchup. Clementi’s got this one.
Not that its totally out of the question.
Maynard is going to win is all I’m saying. No dout. He will Manhandle Rich, and it doesn’t mean it won’t be a war.
It will be a war and maynard will manhandle rich on the ground through most of the fight until rich submits him.. thats if gray can take him down the whole fight cause he wont win a stand up war with rich… rich in the 3rd by rear naked choke
Maynard won’t be able to manhandle Clementi, the way he’s fighting now. Gray may be one tough SOB Chase, but Clementi is as well. No manhandling will happen. This is gonna be as close as I think. Clementi’s “no bull$hit” approach to the fight, coupled with his “no love” attitude[pun intended]will definitely give Maynard a run for his monoey!…..but don’t get me wrong, this could be one helluva fight!!
Negation, He will Manhandle him, Rich can’t Handle His Wrestling, or strength, rish isn’t as big as Maynard is at 155 or as strong, Rish as been doing well Latley, But maynard is going to put him in his place, And he won’t get submitted, he’s imporved to much for that since being on TUF and will Muscle out of it. Rich will be like Spencer Fisher, Will never be able to make it to the top of the Division.
im taking clementi on this one, experience counts alot in mma, and rich has about 10 times more than maynard… clementi by submission or decision
yeah that experience worked out really well for heath herring.
it’s going to be sweet to watch clementi get gnp’d
Can I please read the word “manhandle” one more time?
Haha!!…”Manhandle!!!”
gud fight… must’ve missed the news somewhere along the line… not the 1st time… I thought Emerson won that.
….no Playboy fer me.
LOL!
Maynard all the way, even though I respect the sh*t out of Clementi, he’s been around for a long time and has acquired great experience. But Maynard is a young, tough, new talent. This card is soo stacked, I can’t wait!
…And this should be the final fight to make the televised portion. Can’t wait for this event.
Me either, totally pumped.
rich beat a big anthony johnson, so i don’t think he’ll get destroyed and his subb skillz r helpful against the take downs, hard to call..
Right. HE defeated Rumble Johnson, so I don’t see anywhere where Rich would get “manhandled” like the comments above state…
Rumble is a stand up Guy manly and is extreamly New at the game. I’m not with this Anthony Jhonson Hype, This guy is more Hyped up the Alexander was. and He hasn’t done shit But beat a TuF Loser.
Can u say dream fight?
hmm i havent seen maynard do very well against smaller opponents with a good jits game…clement is a a lil bigger than your average lightweight. he should be able to catch maynard in a submission..other than that i dont see mayneards boxing being a true factor. i do believe he will use his great wrestling to take clementi down, but…its clementi on his back.
yo9u took the words right out of my mouth.
I agree I have lost alot of money on Clementi this year, but Gray is my boy and eventhough he might get submited I hope gray wins with a stopage.
Here is the update on the Kj Noons fiasco:
the problem isnt financial. According to his agent the problem is that they dont want to fight Diaz because they dont feel that he deserves a title shot. They are saying only reason they want to give Nick another title shot is cause it will get people to tune in, but thats not fair to KJ (WTF are they talking about).
cAMP nOONS IS ALSO SAYING THAT eDDIE aLVAREZ SHOULD BE THE #1 CONTENDER, Problem is that Eddie is taking time off to get married. Noons camp said “thats not our problem that he is getting married, people get married in 5-10 minutes”…..
What an A**hole! These guys are saying whatever they can to not have KJ defend his title. IMO Noons, doesnt want to fight anyone, he wants to sit on the sideline as champion for as long as possible without defending it!
That’s too bad. Noons is really turning out to be a real chump. If he could beat Diaz cleanly it would shoot him up so far in everyones eyes.
KJ Noons is the fighter I currently hate the most, maybe the only fighter I hate at all.
AGREED!
Yeah, I’m thinking the same for the most part (maybe guys like Starnes, but IS he a fighter?). I may bash here and there, but I still respect the fact that these guys step into a cage, and fight. So there’s my reason I guess. KJ won’t get in the cage with Diaz, so I’m comfortable using the normally too strong word “hate”. I know some disagreed with Elite airing this dirty laundry in public, but I like it. If Noons isn’t answering phone calls, then call him out to the fans where he’ll have to answer. Noons said he has a new nickname for every fight. Well, he’s going to be getting some rather unsavory nicknames soon, I’m going for KJ “ChickenSh*t” Noons to be another one to replace “The Artist.” I still love “Nancy Boy” though! If KJ REALLY thought he destroyed Diaz in the last fight, then he should be BEGGING to fight him again and end this controversy. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A CHAMPION IN ANY SPORT DUCK COMPETITION LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
john, you may not want to hear this but its true. Why does Nick deserve a shot? And DDT, Noons did beat Diaz cleanly. Noons was dropping him and those cuts dont get there by themselves! Diaz didnt even make weight in his last fight and he wants a title fight?
Didn’t he make weight against Thomas Wildman Denny? I thought he came in 2 pounds under.
Thats right halljam2!!! It was the fight before the Denny.
Agreed. Nick beats two cans and he “can’t be denied” a title shot?
That’s a tough point to run on in an organization primarily filled with cans. who else is he supposed to fight to determine #1 contender status. It almost has to be a can. Say Diaz fights Alvarez for #1 contender and loses. Then Alvarez fights Noons and loses. Then KJ can duck Diaz and say ” I already beat him, and beat Alvarez who beat him. The fight doesn’t make sense.” They should probably fight now and get it over with.
JameS your right. THe organization is based on 7 good fighters and a bunch of CANS. THe company KJ represents is FAILING, they need help with the ratings. No one gives a crap about a KJ Noons fight unless Diaz is involved, and thats the truth! EliteXC NEEDS this fight on the October 4th card. Its a matter of survival! THeir Chumpion (noons), should STFU and step up and fight whoever the #1 contender EliteXC decides. If EliteXC doesnt survive, then he wont be the champion of ANYTHING and probably will never be champion again. After this news has been made public, future employers wont be in a hurry to give him a title shot thats for sure.
Chuck Liddell was what a real Champion is about. “I will fight anyone”. who are you fighting next check? “Whoever they tell me to fight”…..THats a champion. A champion isnt somebody making such a big stink to try and get out of a fight. KJ is a CHUMP. 95% of the internet (which is a boatload of people) have NO RESPECT for him, most of whom do not believe he even deserves to be a champion. He should want the opportunity to fight Diaz and prove himself to the MILLIONS of doubters. But he isn’t, he is hiding behind his management like the NANCY BOY that he is! KJ is just scared to loose. Thats not what a champion is in my book! Say what you want about Chuck, but we all know that he cant beat Rampage, but still Chuck would fight him any chance he gets…THats Heart of a Champion….THis Klown is the temporary EliteXC CHUMPION!
I’m in moderation to your above comment john, it’s driving me crazy! Sean, Halljam, JV: the point is this, as champion you should have abso-f*ckin-lutely NO decision on who you fight or who the number one contender is! A TRUE champ would step up, silence the doubters, help the company, entertain the fans, fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. Noons is pulling an MMA version of a Limbo Stick, just ducking away as this fight gets lowered on him.
great fuckin fight for sure..maynard proved he had knockout power in a 9 sec. victory over dennis siver..his wrestling is outstanding, th eonly question is his ground game..i think clementi is gunna take this one..im pulling towards a triangle or RNC, 2nd round..we all know maynard is gunna take him to the ground..than what..i love both these guys, but im going with clementi
melvin knocked out siver (ufc 86).. maynard won by decison against siver.
Maynard knocked out Joe Veres in 9 seconds. He decisioned Siver.
maynard shocked me in his fight with frank edgar. he looked excellent..(lost 200 bucks). but rich is my boy and i think rich will win a decision.
I hope gay maynard gets beat. we don’t need L&P wrestlers in the LW division
What we don’t need is people classifying superior wrestling as “lay ‘n’ pray.”
I’m tired of everyone saying that every wrestler is a lay and pray fighter. There are plenty of wrestlers who aren’t (Gray included).
Maynard is still young to the game but he has been evolving very quickly. His fight vs Frankie Edgar was almost all stand up and he knocked out Joe Veres in 9 seconds, as mentioned by DB.
The UFC never ceases to surprise me. This should be a good fight. I can’t wait.
This card is turning out to be outstanding. Loaded from top to bottom with at least 7 main card worthy fights. That’s darn good.
yeah tuffguy 21, he knocked out joe veres in 9 seconds or something, not denis siver, thanks for the clear-up
melvin guillard knocked out siver in like 8 seconds i think
**BREAKING NEWS**
BJ Penn vs GSP slated for January 31, 2008, NOT in December or Super Bowl weekend. Dana White was interviewed by Kevin Iole from Yahoo Sports.
Here’s the link:
http://www.themmanews.com/?p=1445
What time machine are they going to use?
Haha I meant 2009..