This card is littered with fighters who wrestled in high school or have some form of wrestling experience, but the four mentioned were the only ones that wrestled collegiately at a high level or institution. Our first fight breakdown is Gray “The Bully” Maynard vs. Roger “El Matador” Huerta with the winner moving one step closer to the top contender in the lightweight division.
Maynard is one of the UFC’s rising stars. He has compiled a 7-0 record with his last win being a decision over a game Dan Miller. Maynard was a three-time All-American at Michigan State and was a college teammate of former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. He began his MMA training by helping lightweight champion B.J. Penn train in wrestling a few years ago. He then competed in the UFC’s reality show, Season 5, making it to the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Nate Diaz. (The loss does not count on his record, nor did his two wins on the TV program … They were not sanctioned because it was a TV show and they could not reveal results until months later.) When he then joined Randy Couture’s gym, Xtreme Couture, he finally fell in love with the sport. Maynard is 5-0-1 in the UFC with wins over veterans like Miller, Clementi, Siver, Veras, and former Clarion wrestling standout Frankie Edgar. He has an explosive ground-and-pound style and had dominated his past opponents keeping them on their backs. His one weakness is his striking. He doesn’t strike with great accuracy … although he is powerful.
Huerta is a great come-from-behind story. He was a young orphan in Mexico with a tough troubled upbringing and has literally fought his way to success. He wrestled briefly at Division III powerhouse Augsburg College in Minneapolis … and was one the UFC's rising stars. He began training in Minnesota under Dave Menne (a former UFC middleweight champion) a few years later. He compiled a 21-1-1 and graced the cover of Sport Illustrated. Huerta was within one fight of a title shot in the lightweight division. He ended up losing that fight to Kenny Florian at UFC 87 in Minneapolis in August of 2008. He has not fought since. He took a break to pursue a career in acting … and now returns in his final fight of his UFC contract. Is his head in the fight? Does he want to be back in the UFC and make that title run? Many questions surround Huerta. One thing he does have is a serious skill set and could pose big problems for Maynard. He has great boxing and kickboxing skills … and has an iron chin. Can he keep the fight standing long enough to catch Maynard? That’s the million dollar question. Huerta's big weakness, like most past wrestlers, is on his back. He lost his last fight, because he was surprised by Florian’s takedown ability and his discipline not to get into a brawling match. He must keep this fight on the feet to warrant any chance against Maynard’s superior wrestling.
Dollaway is fighting figuratively and literally for his UFC life. A tough loss to Tom Lawlor by guillotine choke in the first round at UFC 100 left Dollaway with a 2-2 UFC record. A loss here would mean that he could be potentially cut from the organization. Dollaway, who was an All-American at Arizona State, trains at the Arizona Sports Combat facility with Ryan Bader, Ben Askren, and Aaron Simpson, to name a few. He will need to control his opponent, Jay Silva, who is a solid grappler and submission artist to secure a win.
Mike Pierce has a tough fight with Brock Larson. Pierce was an NCAA qualifier in 2000 while attending Portland State. His MMA career has been solid. He brings a 9-1 MMA record into tonight's fight, but is taking a step up in competition. Larson is a tough former high school wrestler from Minnesota who fights a similar style to teammate Sean Sherk. This may be a battle of whoever get the takedowns will win the fight. That being said, many times when two fighters with wrestling backgrounds fight, it ends up being a slugfest!
I hope you enjoy the free event. Look for more MMA coverage of UFC 103 as it pertains to former wrestlers. UFC 103, which takes place on Saturday in Dallas, Texas, features former collegiate wrestlers Josh Koscheck (Edinboro), Efrain Escudero (Juco-Pima CCe), Ricky Story (Southern Oregon), Steve Lopez (Bethel), and Jim Miller (Virginia Tech), among others.
You can follow Tony Nguyen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TonyNguyenMMA.
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