“The Bully” is set to make his return to the Octagon this summer. The UFC yesterday confirmed that former lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard will take on Fabricio Camoes at UFC 176, which takes place Aug. 2 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The fight is scheduled for three five-minute rounds. Maynard has not fought since last November when he suffered a brutal TKO loss at the hands of Nate Diaz. It was the second time in a row he was TKOed in 2013 following a knockout loss to TJ Grant earlier in the year, and overall he’s lost three of his last four fights via knockout. At 1-3-1 overall in his last five fights, Maynard is barely clinging on to his spot in the division’s top 10, and he absolutely needs to earn an impressive finish of Camoes if he wants to remain a viable contender in the UFC lightweight division. As for Camoes, he’s lost two in a row as well with losses to Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller. There is no real reason why Camoes keeps getting booked for these prime lightweight bouts against fighters ranked much higher than him, but perhaps UFC matchmaker Joe Silva believes his skillset presents a good test to see where his opponents are. In other words, he’s turned into a gatekeeper of sorts in the UFC lightweight division, but with a third-straight loss looming this matchup against Maynard is absolutely a must-win fight for Camoes if he not only plans on getting bigger fights in the future, but if he plans on sticking around the UFC roster in general. As far as how this fight breaks down, Maynard will have the advantage in wrestling and striking while Camoes will have the edge in submissions and in the chin department. With Maynard’s back against the wall, I expect him to play this one cautiously and maybe push Camoes against the fence and take him down to score some extra points. But either way, despite his regression I think he has enough edges to warrant being the favorite here. The line for the match will be released in the coming months and I expect Maynard to open as a favorite of 3-to-1 here as, even despite his losing skid, this is a favorable matchup for him and Camoes is not one who typically has the respect of the betting public. The main event of UFC 176 is Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2 for the UFC featherweight title and the card also features a women’s bantamweight bout between Shayna Baszler and Bethe Correia as well as a flyweight bout between Jussier Formiga and Zach Makovsky.
