Top UFC 155-pound contender Gray Maynard spoke with our friends at Bloody Elbow about his draw against UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar on Saturday at UFC 125.
He said he knew after Edgar made it out of the first round that the fight would be going all five rounds.
"I knew after the first round that it was going to be a five round fight," Maynard stated. "After he took those hard shots and managed to get his bearings back I needed to adjust. Rounds two through five I had to get my legs back under me and I just didn't feel the snap or turnover in my punches. I felt good and knew I could still fight hard but I didn't feel as sharp and my feet were a little flat. There were just some small adjustments that needed to be made and had I not gone through all of that activity in the first I could have been more crisp."
Even though he slowed down, Maynard said he was in condition to fight 10 rounds Saturday night.
"There was never any question in my mind that I could fight a hard five rounder," Maynard said. "The only issue I had was the pace of the first round. He was in trouble and I had a bit of an adrenaline dump trying to finish it but that was something I just had to adjust to. I knew I could fight five rounds. I could have fought ten rounds if that's what it took but with such a high output in the first round I needed to regroup. There was no feeling out period between us. Normally when you see two guys fight the first minute or two is spent posturing and maneuvering but that didn't happen in with us. I hit him with that shot that dropped him and we went from there."
You can read the entire interview here.
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