Gray Maynard: “I am going into this fight angry.”

Top UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard is entering his upcoming fight with champion Frank Edgar at UFC 136 an “angry,” “obsessed” individual and he’s not afraid of who knows it.

Maynard recently wrote about his feelings regarding his second shot at dethroning Edgar where he made it clear his emotions are riding high for the match-up and he’s ready to snatch the respect he deserves by taking ownership of the divisional gold.

A Look Back at Edgar vs. Maynard II

“I am going into this fight angry,” said Maynard on his blog with SportsNet. “Not angry at Edgar — he did what he had to and is tough and a good fighter. Nothing personal with him, other than I need to beat him worse than ever to make sure everyone understands I am the best fighter at 155 pounds.”

Maynard elaborated on the loss, writing, “At first my mindset was, ‘I’ve beat him twice and I still have to prove something against this guy?’ But pretty quickly my mentality changed to where I’d be happy to fight him literally twenty (or) thirty more times just until everyone on the planet gets the message I am a better fighter than Frankie Edgar.”

“I beat Edgar when we fought in 2008 as contenders on the way up, and I beat him even worse on New Year’s Day for the belt, only for the judges to give it a draw,” he continued.

“Even now, having beat Edgar one time and doing the most damage and nearly knocking him out in the rematch, he’s the favorite to win this third fight,” Maynard passionately concluded on his lack of respect from fans and media. “It is funny, I really don’t know how else to say it other than how I feel: I don’t think I am getting the credit I deserve. Look at my record; I got my title shot by beating five or six of the top guys in the division — really top guys and better guys than Edgar beat before he got the title shot ahead of me.”

“The Bully” will get his chance to finally lay official claim to the lightweight title in less than two weeks and, clearly, it can’t come soon enough for the 32-year old. Maynard is 10-0-1 in his career with past victories over Kenny Florian, Roger Huerta, Nate Diaz, Jim Miller, and of course Edgar as well – the lone loss of the title-holder’s career.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC