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[ILuvGSP'sTights]

Tyson Griffin fine with waiting on teammate, but he'll fight Gray Maynard, too | MMAjunkie.com

After an impressive win over Hermes Franca at this past Saturday's UFC 103 event in Dallas, Xtreme Couture lightweight Tyson Griffin (14-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is once again being discussed in the always-deep lightweight title picture.

While that's good news for Griffin, the bad news is that his teammate, Gray Maynard, also had an impressive performance this past week at UFC Fight Night 19 on Wednesday.

Following his win on Saturday night, Griffin said he was just fine letting Maynard get first crack at the UFC's lightweight belt. But Griffin also said he's not afraid to face his training partner if necessary.

"If Gray got the title shot (first), I'd be happy for him and I'd help him train for it," Griffin told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). I'd train with him to win.

"As far as fighting teammates, it's kind of an unwritten rule that it happens for titles."

While Griffin said he wouldn't back away from a bout with Maynard if it were for the title, don't mistake that statement for a challenge of his teammate.

"If it happens, it happens," Griffin said. "Other than that, the weight division is stacked. There's tons of other guys that we can fight if the title's not on the line."

Griffin has now won six of his past seven lightweight contests. The win over Franca was Griffin's first finish of an opponent in eight trips to the octagon and just the second time the Brazilian has ever been finished.

And Griffin took the fight despite Franca only cutting down to 159 pounds at Friday's official weigh-ins.

The lightweight insisted he wasn't upset at being forced to accept a catchweight contest or risk losing an opportunity to fight.

"No frustration at all," Griffin said. "I come professionally, and I come on weight. I come ready to fight. I found out early he was off weight, and they asked me if I was still willing to take the fight. I told them, 'Yeah.' So, no frustration at all.

"If anything, it might have hurt him. If he couldn't make weight, he might not have been in shape."

It's the type of attitude that UFC president Dana White loves to hear from his fighters, and the exec did little to hide his admiration fro Griffin at the conference.

"You hear all the answers he had?" White asked. "Were those not the best answers ever? Teammates will fight teammates if it's for the title. He'll take the fight even though he's overweight. The best."

I'm really excited to see Griffin get another good fight in and definitely see him possible going for the lw title. I think Griffin and Maynard meeting up would be a good match and would really determine which should get a shot at the title from the two.

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

I'd love to catch Griffin/Maynard, but feel like Edgar or winner of Joe Daddy/Fisher are probably more deserving of a number one contender's bout against Maynard, while I think Tyson should have to go through winner of Florian/Clay or Nate right now.

[ripitupog]

i think tyson griffin would get wrecked by bj or sanchez. penn has better boxing then him and sanchez has better wrestling nd standup. so i dont see how tyson could beat either of those two guys. Maynard on the other hand has probably up to par conditioning with sanchez, just as good if not better wrestling,so that would be interesting. If maynard fought bj, he'll be able to stand with him for sure, and he's got amazing ground control.

I love tyson griffin as fighter cuz he always puts on a show, but i just dont see him being the champ. He'll probably get a shot sooner or later but he might win. I guess we'll see what happens

[Clark80]

Griffin has improved in leaps and bounds. I would say his standup is more diverse than Gray's. But I favour Edgar over them both right now.

I would like to see Edgar vs. Kenny

[Rhino]

I'll take Griffin's wrestling over Diego any day of the week.... Maynard has already beaten Frank Edgar last year so why have that rematch now

[Masscore]

Am I of the only ones that think Maynard should just get the title shot after Penn-Sanchez? He has beaten Clementi, Miller, Edgar and now Huerta. Thats a rather impressive list and add in the fact he is undefeated. He has also only dropped two rounds on a judges scorecard in the UFC (against Huerta). I mean he might want to take a warm up fight, but if does not want to I do not think he should have to.

[lwbrewer]

Originally Posted by Masscore

Am I of the only ones that think Maynard should just get the title shot after Penn-Sanchez? He has beaten Clementi, Miller, Edgar and now Huerta. Thats a rather impressive list and add in the fact he is undefeated. He has also only dropped two rounds on a judges scorecard in the UFC (against Huerta). I mean he might want to take a warm up fight, but if does not want to I do not think he should have to.

No your not, and the Huerta fight got a lot of publisity for him too.

[beau420]

I don't think Frank Edgar deserves a shot because he is slated to fight Kurt Pellegrino at the Ultimate Fighter Finale....and that is a joke....he goes from late 2006 defeating Jim Miller, then Tyson Griffin, then Mark Bocek and the Spencer Fisher, losses to Gray Maynard but follows it up with a win over Hermes Franca and Sean Sherk and he is going to fight Kurt Pellegrino?....wtf?.....

I'd give the shot to Tyson because he has seniority, then Gray who'd last 5 fights have gone to decision....learn how to finish a fight and I would love to see him get a shot.

[Druel]

I didn't even know Frank Edgar was slated to fight Pellegrino, that's pretty much a joke right? I think the backwards and forwards losses make things confusing, but I gotta say Maynard,Edgar,Griffin in that order are behind the top 2.

Tyson Griffin vs Nate next would be good, stick Maynard in against the winner of Guida/Florian and we got a nice idea of where the 155 division stands.

[Masscore]

Originally Posted by beau420

I don't think Frank Edgar deserves a shot because he is slated to fight Kurt Pellegrino at the Ultimate Fighter Finale....and that is a joke....he goes from late 2006 defeating Jim Miller, then Tyson Griffin, then Mark Bocek and the Spencer Fisher, losses to Gray Maynard but follows it up with a win over Hermes Franca and Sean Sherk and he is going to fight Kurt Pellegrino?....wtf?.....

I'd give the shot to Tyson because he has seniority, then Gray who'd last 5 fights have gone to decision....learn how to finish a fight and I would love to see him get a shot.

First I agree, Edgar v. Pellergrino does not make sense. Even though it was not too long ago Pelleergino was having a number 1 contender match with Stevenson. Stevenson is who Edgar should be fighting, let Pellergrino lock horns with Fisher.

But Maynard has way more cred going into his fight then Griffin. First off, Maynard is undefeated and should not even have a no-contest on his record. Never have a seen a ref call a fight due to a tap out then change his mind. Second, Griffin has had way more fights then Maynard in the UFC and only has 1 more finish then he does. And if they called the fight with Emerson correctly they would be even. So your whole finish fight things kind of goes out the door. Maynard should be the number 1 contender, making him fight another fight is pretty much pointless unless he does not want to wait.