Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller at UFC 96

by Scott Haber on Jan 5, 2009 5:44 PM EST Comment 19 comments

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas.

UFC lightweights Jim Miller and Gray "The Bully" Maynard are set to square off at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio in March, according to a report from TheGarv.com:

Here’s another hot scoop for you all: Sources inside Jim Miller’s camp have just confirmed to me that Jim will be facing Gray Maynard at UFC 96.

Maynard (6-0, 1 NC, 4-0, 1 NC UFC) is an alum of TUF season 5 and is undefeated in his MMA career. An outstanding wrestler, Maynard trains out of Xtreme Couture and most recently defeated Rich Clementi via unanimous decision at UFC 90.

Miller, a former IFL fighter with his brother and UFC middleweight Dan, is on a hot streak since signing with the UFC. After submitting French grappler David Baron in his debut, he took a fight with the dangerous Matt Wiman on only one week's notice after just returning from his honeymoon. Despite the odds, Miller used his outstanding ground game to dominate Wiman en-route to a unanimous decision win at UFC Fights for the Troops in December.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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INCREDIBLE!

This is a fantastic showdown of two extremely talented lightweights.

by "Mr. NC-17" on Jan 5, 2009 6:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not sure Miller is ready for this one..

by lbk on Jan 5, 2009 6:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Maynard via very boring, yet dominating, decision

by dbcb on Jan 5, 2009 6:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’ll second that…
Not real excited about this one.

I'm just a dude who's trying to put it together.

by mma_dude on Jan 5, 2009 6:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Two wrestlers = good match.
One wrestler = boring lay n pray.
This one should be a shoot out. Maynard has the power but Miller has the skills and the stand up.

by Kid Nate on Jan 6, 2009 10:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I dunno

The way Miller creates scrambles, we’re going to see just how good Gray’s top control is. I think this is a very intriguing fight and sends somebody on the way to becoming a credible contender in the not too distant future.

by kp the ghost on Jan 5, 2009 6:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I feel bad for Miller. As great as Maynard is (you know, insomuch as he always wins and even beat Frank Edgar), I think Miller can win (even though his only loss is to Edgar). However, I’m afraid Maynard’s size and wrestling ability will allow him to lay and pray to another decision victory.

On the bright side, if Miller does beat Maynard, he’s a contender as far as I’m concerned.

"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard

by Brett Jones on Jan 5, 2009 6:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know. I wouldn’t count Miller out. He’s got a really good bottom gain which he’ll likely get a chance to utilize against Maynard.

by Cannon Jacques on Jan 5, 2009 7:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Shit, gain = game.

by Cannon Jacques on Jan 5, 2009 7:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Plus I think both the brothers came from wrestling backgrounds.

As always, I’m on the IFL transplant hype train.

by Simco on Jan 5, 2009 7:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Any fight with Maynard should be on the undercard.

by steveoc24 on Jan 5, 2009 7:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hope Miller pulls it off.

by DirtyML on Jan 5, 2009 7:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

If I had to guess, I’d say that this fight will be decided by the striking. Maynard probably doesn’t want too much of Miller’s jiu-jitsu, so he’ll start by trying to out strike Miller. If Miller’s striking hasn’t improved as much as Maynard’s, Miller could be in serious trouble. If; however, Miller is getting the better of the stand-up, Maynard may get antsy and go to the ground, which won’t be comparatively advantageous.

I bet the striking, especially early on, will decide the fight.

by Rundownloser on Jan 5, 2009 10:08 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'm taking Miller here...

without a drop of hesitation.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Jan 5, 2009 10:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i reallyyyyyy want miller to win too, but i think gray would just dominate him in a really boring way..

and maybe your line could also be included in 2009s worst predictions because of the way you said it. haha.

i hope you’re right though. Miller is really fun to watch and he could develop to be a good contender especially if he wins this.

http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/

by Anton Tabuena on Jan 5, 2009 11:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Can't disagree...

I base the prediction on the assumption that 1) Miller has improved more than Edgar since their fight and 2) Maynard won’t have as big a size advantage. Although my admiration for Maynard is based solely on his name (yeah, tool fans), I love both Miller’s fighting style (although Miller is a pretty damn good name, I tend to use it after my first name as well). I could imagine Maynard making a small mistake position-wise and Miller choking him out.

by Drewplata on Jan 6, 2009 11:17 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Miller is going to win this don’t be surprised if he is the one who takes down Gray and forces him to defend from the bottom, the Miller brothers are very talented fighters and Jim is going to be a star in the LW division.

by Raker on Jan 6, 2009 1:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs