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Xtreme Couture’s head trainer and world-renowned striking coach Shawn Tompkins recently spoke to Fightmagazine.com about Gray Maynard’s Ultimate Fight Night tangle with Roger Huerta and Sam Stout’s battle with Phillipe Nover at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. on September 16.
On Maynard’s improvement: “Gray Maynard, we knew that in the beginning that he was gonna be great in the sport. That’s why we brought him on the team. His ability to wrestle makes him dangerous for everybody out there because he took the last year and a half two years and dedicated it to boxing. He’s got Gil Martinez, who I think is one of the best boxing trainers in Las Vegas and he’s been training with him day in and day out. And it proved in his last fight. When you add that to one of the best wrestling games in the sport, you’re just too dangerous.
“In his last fight, Jim Miller just had nothing. He couldn’t figure out how to stand with him and what was he gonna do, shoot on Gray Maynard? I think Gray’s is definitely in the top of the heap. He’s the most dangerous fighter coming up and out there right now and I think they put him in with Huerta on purpose. The UFC obviously doesn’t like Huerta. So why not put him against Gray Maynard?”
On Huerta: “I think they need to make this fight happen because, first of all, Huerta, I’ve always felt is overrated. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s aggressive, I think he’s in great shape, but I don’t think he’s technical. Gray’s a much more technical fighter. They want to make Huerta realize he’s not the fighter he thinks he is. And at the same time, Gray winning this fight, it legitimizes him in that weight division in that organization.”
On Stout’s improvement: “It’s another chance for me with Sam to see where’s he at and keep building his ground game. I think people saw him his last fight with Matt Wiman, a huge improvement. I’ve got a great trainer that I hired for him, Kimo Robinson, he’s a black belt under Sergio Pena, who works day in and day out with Sam and we’re continuing to improve that game as well as his wrestling with Gray Maynard and Tyson Griffin.
On Xtreme Couture’s lightweights: “The exciting part of them being fighting within three days of each other is the fact that the three of them are gonna peak at the same time and that’s dangerous for anyone that’s fighting them to have three guys that are all getting ready for the fight in the same gym that are at that level.
“I’ve got a lot of guys in that mix in that division in that organization. If there’s some of them have to take a little bit longer route, I don’t mind. Look at a guy like Sam Stout, I like the route that he’s taken because he’s young. He’s got time to improve in all of his game. Tyson Griffin, he bears the same thing. Gray Maynard, he just came out like a rocket. Why not let him keep that momentum going?
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