When Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia’s TJ Grant rejected an offer from the Ultimate Fighting Championship to fight 5th ranked lightweight Jim Miller at UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen on April 27, many thought that it was a bad idea — until they found out the reason why.
Grant and his fiancee are expecting their first child around the same time, so he decided to take some time off.
Now, it looks like a decision that has paid off for him, as the UFC announced that Grant (20-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will now be facing 3rd ranked Gray Maynard (11-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) at UFC 160 on May 25 instead.
“Gray Maynard is very tough.” Grant told MM-eh the day the news was announced. ”I say that about every opponent, but he’s definitely my toughest challenge to date.”
Assuming that he comes out on top, Grant is probably just one fight away from a chance to challenge UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson for his title, which is surprising for someone who has never once been on the main card portion of a UFC event.
Grant knows it.
“I’ve flown under the radar and never really got the exposure, and now I really feel like I’m putting together a little bit of momentum.”
Grant says that like his previous training camps, he intends to remain at his home gym of FitPlus, but that as per usual his coach Scott MacLean will be bringing in some quality training partners to supplement his teammates.
MacLean has previously brought in guys like Jordan Mein, Wagnney Fabiano, multiple time world BJJ champs Leo Santos and Robson Moura, and Bellator lightweight and welterweight champs Michael Chandler and Ben Askren.
“Gray’s wrestling is kind of hard to mimic here,” Grant said, “but Scott always brings in good guys for me to train with.”
But as tough as Maynard is, he may well be the lesser of Grant’s challenges. He will have to contend with a brand new baby after all.
“When the time comes I’m going to make the best of it — there will be a few nights when I won’t be getting the best sleep, but that’s just something that’s going to have to be dealt with.”
After dealing with a sleepless night or two, Grant will have to deal with Maynard, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I know I’ve got my work cut out for me, but I’m excited. I wanted this fight.” He said with enthusiasm in his voice, “A win over him will definitely put me in the right direction. I’m going to try to make my statement May 25th.”
