Kenny Florian
vs
Gray Maynard
UFC 118
Fight Review and Commentary
Kenny Florian vs Gray Maynard by Vincent Cooper
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Round One: Kenny Florian vs Gray Maynard Before the fight Gray Maynard was looking in very good condition and appeared to have the edge in the fitness department. Both fighters looked relaxed though. From the start of round one Florian took a long, deeper stance, apparently as a defensive measure against any attempts Maynard may make to shoot for him. Although this worked for much of the round it meant that many of Florian's hand techniques were coming up short much of the time. Aside from him landing a few weak leg kicks, the first three minutes of the right were mostly uneventful with both fighter's feeling each other out. With 1:20 to go Gray closed the gap and entered a clinch with Florian, finally dumping the latter on the ground with less than a minute remaining. Florian's grappling defense was sufficient to see him safely through to the end of the round.
Round Two: Kenny Florian vs Gray Maynard Florian again took a defensive stance and the first half of the round saw few points scored and neither fighter was in danger of being KOed. As sensible as Kenny's tactics were against a grappler like Gray Maynard, Florian lacks the footwork and body movement (tai sabaki) of someone like Lyoto Machida and while he was able to avoid being hit or taken down, he wasn't able to threaten Maynard. He was fighting a defensive fight. At 2:20 Maynard shot and took Florian to the fence before taking him to the ground at 1:42. He gained a dominant position but was unable to capitalize on it as Florian proved his defense was worthy though as with the stand up, Kenny didn't look like he was likely to turn the tables on Gray either and snatch a victory. He did make it to the end of the round but was now two rounds down going into the third and needed to end the fight. Round Three: Kenny Florian vs Gray Maynard Bizarrely Florian threw his arms up early in the round, as if he was frustrated with Maynard's lack of action and was inviting him to trade blows. Kenny didn't seem to realize that he was the one who was behind on points and it was he who needed to finish the fight, not Maynard. Despite facing a points loss Kenny Florian still did little to actually win the match outright. He became more adventurous with the techniques he threw (Superman punch and a spinning back kick) but didn't throw anything that looked like it would end the fight. At 3:20 Maynard took Florian to the ground and the fight was going to be effectively over unless Florian could get back to his feet. He struggled to do so and again his defense held Maynard off, but that was all Kenny could do: defend himself. He briefly got up at 1:20 but was down again at 1:12. With 19 seconds to go he escaped to his feet but Maynard was able to just evade Florian's techniques to see out the rest of the fight an take a unanimous decision in front of a disappointed crowd.
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