If someone had told you six months ago, that in September, people would be discussing whether or not Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II is a marketable championship fight, many of us would have laughed and told buddy to piss off.  Really, following BJ Penn’s violent and bloody stoppage of Diego Sanchez last December, who could have imagined that as 2010 neared its end, not only would Penn not be the champ, he’d be one or two wins away from contending? That’s some crazy sh-t. Kind of like Fedor getting tapped out in the first round…

In terms of whether or not a rematch between Edgar and Maynard can move some serious PPV’s, well, yes, clearly neither guy has put together the resume yet of a legend like Penn, so things might cool down in the hype department. And don’t expect Maynard to engage in any Chael Sonnen like, ‘deconstructive criticism’ with Edgar to help sell the fight. Speaking to MMA Weekly recently the bruising wrestler stated:

“It’s great competition. He trains hard. He’s a cool guy too. It’s cool because his dad is always like ‘hey Gray!’ talks to me and stuff; nicest guy in the world. So trash talk ain’t gonna happen,” Maynard said. “But I guarantee you he’s going to train hard, and I’ll train, and it’s going to be a good fight.”…”It’s all business. Throw the trash talk out, it’s just all business.”

So as it looks now, scandalous comments aren’t going to be flying between these guys (and clearly Dad jokes are out), but that doesn’t mean the rematch can’t be a thoroughly entertaining and violent affair.

Due to James Toney ‘WTF did he say now?’ antics regarding Saturday’s tilt with Randy Couture, plus the understandable speculation about how Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn II will play out, the fact that Kenny Florian is also fighting Gray Maynard at UFC 118 has kind of gotten lost in the mix. Not that we should talk of course, as we’ve been drawn to the Toney pre-fight sh-t show just as much as the next guy, but when you think about it, Florian vs. Maynard is huge. Both guys are top contenders; both have taken out some notable fighters, and a win for either dude is crucial. If Maynard wins, he’s gotta be a lock for a title shot; if Florian wins, then things could get really, really, complicated (depending on what happens with Edgar vs. Penn II).

It will be interesting to see how Florian handles Maynard’s size, power and wrestling, especially since “KenFlo” has improved leaps and bounds since he was grounded and pounded to a UD loss by Sean Sherk. Speaking to Heavy.com about this Saturday’s tilt, here is some of what Florian had to say:

“This is the biggest challenge of my career, my way of proving to myself how far I’ve come,” Florian said. “My striking is at higher level. My jiu-jitsu, conditioning, and even wrestling are all better. I’m going to play the same game I always play. I’m going to be aggressive, go forward and wait for a mistake. Hopefully that mistake will come at some point and hopefully I’ll be there to capitalize on it.”

Should be a doozy. To bet on it head here.

On a day where much of the sport’s headlines are focused on Rampage Jackson’s stunning decision to apparently retire from fighting, Roger Huerta has announced he has reversed course and wants to remain in the UFC. Heading into his recent memorable Split Decision loss to Gray Maynard on September 16^th, Huerta had pretty much all but officially confirmed that he was giving up fighting, to pursue a career in acting. (Dana White just can’t get enough of Hollywood right now)

In a report today from Sherdog.com’s Loretta Hunt; however, Huerta stated that on account of the Maynard loss, the 26 year-old-fighter isn’t willing to end his career with back-to-back losses, and that further, he would have rather had Maynard “break it” than tap out to the Kimura. (For those of you that didn’t see the bout, Huerta demonstrated that his arms and shoulders are evidently more flexible than Mister Fantastic’s) And as far as Huerta’s acting career?

“I’m still open to acting,” said Huerta. “Hopefully we get something going with that, but I’m not going to prioritize (acting) now. I’ll still prioritize fighting. If the UFC wants me back, I’d be willing to go back.”

Well, considering that Huerta is one of the promotion’s more exciting fighters to watch,  a UFC contract offer is probably on its way.

Ok, having actual herpes on your penis would suck more. And AIDS. But it still sucks.

Gray Maynard is living that scenario (lip version) right now. At least he’s a good sport about it.

Gray talks about that, if he deserves a title shot, and if there was one movie role that would make him quit the UFC.

In an interview with ESPN 1100 yesterday, UFC President Dana White acknowledged that the promotion is looking to put together a bout between Gray Maynard and Roger Huerta at September’s UFC Fight Night. (According to a report by Fighters Only Magazine- thanks for the tip) White’s comments confirm recent reports that the UFC was lining up a fight between the two notable lightweights.

The report goes on to add that the bout would be the last on Huerta’s contract; the 20-2-1 fighter turned down a new five fight deal with the UFC earlier this year, and that according to White, he’s not sure at this juncture whether or not Huerta will choose to sign with the organization.

I don’t know what Huerta wants to do. We’ve tried to talk to Roger and see what he wants to do. I really don’t know what this kid wants to do. We have one more fight him so we’re going to give him a fight with Gray on free TV and we’ll see what he wants to do.

Now it’s not too long ago that Huerta was the latest fighter to go through the seemingly revolving door on the UFC doghouse, after the lightweight criticized the promotion for how it compensates its fighters last summer. Clearly that’s water under the bridge for White and the UFC, which makes sense, since the vast majority of Huerta’s bouts have been epic-drop the chip dip in your lap-battles. (In fact, rumors persist, that several fight choreographers from Jet Li movies have apparently broke into tears of euphoric-envious joy while watching Huerta’s bouts.)

What might kybosh a new deal with the UFC is that Huerta reportedly wants to pursue an acting career. Yes, following the trail blazing steps of mentors like Stephan Bonnar and Rich Franklin, it looks as though Huerta wants to entrench his legacy, by being involved in a movie that cannot make it straight to DVD and then the $1.99 bin fast enough.

Of course, by now, there has been a long laundry list of fighters to grace (or disgrace) the silver screen, but when will some movies come out about some big name fighters? Played by big name actors? (We here at MMA Fix have written a script with Ben Affleck as the leading role in “The Iceman.” Entourage’s Jeremy Pivens would be cast as Dana White)

At the very least, here’s hoping that Huerta does indeed face Maynard, because that will be one hell of a fight. Maynard continues to impress, and if he can overpower Huerta, like he did to other notable lightweights like Frankie Edgar, the Xtreme Couture fighter could be within striking distance of a title shot.