“The Bully” spoke exclusively with HeavyMMA about the decision and what comes next.
“Leaving Xtreme Couture is something that has been going through my head for awhile,” Maynard said. “I know people want to assume the worst, but that isn’t the case. During my camp for Kenny Florian, I started to think about everything that is out there in this sport. A month before my fight with Edgar in Houston, I made my decision.
“I informed the gym (Xtreme Couture) that I would not be coming back. I felt it was important because win or lose, I wasn’t going to return for my training. I did things this way because I didn’t want to win the title and have people thinking I won the belt and left for something else. I made sure to tell them long before my fight on October 8th, so there wasn’t any confusion.
“Four weeks away from my fight against Edgar in Houston, I hurt my back, received an epidural and was out for a week and a half. I couldn’t go into the gym because there are always so many people coming and going who I don’t know. I didn’t want anyone to put it out there I was injured. Because of this I had to go to a small gym to train. Without bodies I couldn’t really spar heading into the fight, and the final month is the time to turn it up
“My training ended up being all over the place and it just wasn’t a good situation. I had to be very controlled with whatever training I could do. This is fighting and those things happen. I’m not making any excuses whatsoever. Fighters get hurt and for me it just happened at that time
“Again, this is MMA. I know this happens. You have to adjust to things as they come and I know I have to be prepared if it ever happens again. There are no excuses, but I can’t have another camp like my last one.
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