Gray Maynard knew changes were necessary. He just didn’t know where to start.

The former lightweight title challenger had been in the fight game long enough to understand relevance—or lack thereof—dictates reinvention, and once the tailspin begins, righting the ship becomes a difficult process.

The professional window in MMA is small enough, and once losses start piling up and panic sets in, a fighter under the microscope will do whatever is necessary to make fans, critics, and often themselves, believe a new and improved version is slated for arrival.

Forging perception is a strange, but necessary dance to buy time and peace of mind until validation can be found inside the cage.

Maynard spent the past several years looking for validation he never dreamt he’d need; one that, at times, felt so incredibly far away.

“When you don’t get the results you’re after, there are a lot of questions and disappointment that rises up,” Maynard said. “You think about all the sacrifices you’ve made and all the people who’ve been put through hard times because they’ve been by your side. You wonder if it’s all worth it.

“I sat down with the people I love and my team and really put it all on the table. We talked about everything and together we came to the conclusion that this has all been worthwhile and I have a lot left in me. I’ve dropped my last four fights, and now it’s on me to go out there and prove that I still have what it takes to compete at the highest level. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”

Like many of their peers in professional sports, fighters are keen to approach the road ahead with an "if-it’s-not-broke-don’t-fix-it” mentality. When victories pile up that lead to bigger paydays and eventually title opportunities, there is little cause for adjustments to be made.

Things look much different on the flip side, especially for accomplished athletes like Maynard.

The former All-American wrestler from Michigan State University came as close as possible to winning a title without actually doing so when he and Frankie Edgar collided at UFC 125 in January of 2011. The bout marked the second meeting between the two, and came at a time when many believed the 155-pound division would wilt and die in the void of B.J. Penn’s reign as lightweight king.

What unfolded in Las Vegas was not only one of the most memorable battles in UFC history, but a contest that would serve to usher in the next generation of what is arguably the promotion’s most competitive division.

“I thought that fight would haunt me forever, and in some ways it probably will,” Maynard said. “I was so close to winning the title but what good does holding onto that do me? I did the same thing in college with winning a national championship. I thought keeping it in my mind for motivation, but it all just becomes stress and pressure that is unnecessary.

“Getting my hands on the title was almost like an obsession. I wanted to get back there so bad that I rushed things and jumped in when I really should have been addressing other things around me. Hindsight is 20/20 and all, but there can be downsides to being as goal-driven as I am. I wanted that championship and I didn’t care who I had to fight to make that happen. That wasn’t the right approach.”

Maynard didn't find redemption in the trilogy bout with “The Answer,” but got back in the win column in his next fight as he edged out Clay Guida via split-decision in Atlantic City. Maynard’s victory over Guida signaled the end of a seven-month layoff, and what he hoped was a return to his winning ways.

Unfortunately, it all proved to be wishful thinking for Maynard.

The next four fights marked the roughest stretch of his life in competition and out. Maynard continued to look for answers in various fight camps, all the while attempting to find the perfect place for his growing family to settle down. Personal pressures mixed with professional ones made peace of mind increasingly difficult to find.

“When you are coming off a loss you want to get right back in there immediately and make those feelings go away,” Maynard said. “You want to get right into the gym and start erasing that bad performance from your mind. I’m a competitive person, and for competitive people, every day you aren’t training or working toward your goals is a day of stress.

“If I’m not moving toward my goal then I get stuck inside my head. I start wondering what I’m doing and the contemplation gets overwhelming. I had to come to the realization the time away from the gym could be used to get the other things in my life squared away. I didn’t have to be pushing my body to the max and stress myself out further. I could use that time away to address other areas that needed just as much attention.

Maynard knew he needed to take a big step back from the chaos and demands of the fight game, and put his focus on locking down stability for his wife and child. Slowly, but surely, the waters began to calm, and the solution he’d been searching for over the past three years finally materialized.

Surrounded by uncertainty, Maynard struggled to find traction, but a few conversations with his friend Robbie Lawler provided some clarity.

Five years ago, Lawler’s fighting career was on life support. He was no longer the brick-handed knockout machine he once was, and stumbled through one uninspired performance after the next. But just when it looked like he was returning to the UFC for a proper burial in the promotion that made him a star, “Ruthless” returned to form and battled back to become the UFC’s welterweight champion.

“Robbie [Lawler] is a good friend of mine and we’ve talked quite a bit about this stretch I’m in career wise,” Maynard said. “He always has good advice and insight to offer because it wasn’t all too long ago he was standing where I’m at now. He was jumping around from place to place trying to find answers but just couldn’t get out of the rut he was in. Then he got to American Top Team and it all just exploded.

“I’ve been in the same MMA training purgatory Robbie went through where I’m doing everything I can to find the right fit. I think I’ve found that now.”

Maynard made the decision to drop into a lower weight class, and it was a choice he made completely free of timelines. There would be no more urgency to jump back into the cage and stop the proverbial bleeding, nor would he make the drop hoping to cast the impression a newer, sleeker version of himself would be the end result.

Maynard’s altered course brought about a new journey, and only the way to see if the decision was the correct one would be to walk the walk.

“I’ve been thinking about making the drop down to featherweight for awhile now, but I needed the timing to be right,” Maynard said. “Yeah, I’ve lost four fights in a row and that’s tough, but what good would it do me to make a bunch more changes when everything else was out of balance? It would only add more stress and there’s been plenty of that going on over the past few years.

“I’ve always been a goal-oriented person, and once I set my sights on competing at 145 pounds, I started putting the pieces in place to make that happen. There were no test cuts or anything like that because there is no reason to put your body through that. I’ve only missed weight one time, and that was in 5th-grade wrestling. Making the mark is part of the job and I always get it done.”

Although there was a time not too far back where Maynard wondered if the ground below his feet would ever stop shifting, he’s now the one making it rumble. Maynard’s return to action was initially reported by the Las Vegas Journal-Review and been officially slated for The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale where he will face Fernando Bruno on July 8 in Las Vegas.

The bout with Bruno will mark his featherweight debut in the city he grew up calling home and now rests his head once more. After all the changes and stress of his fighting career, and the twists and turns that came from trying to pull his family in the opposite direction, Maynard is happy his return to action will happen in his own backyard.

Furthermore, Maynard is simply happy. And it’s been quite some time since he could say so without having to question himself.

“Everything feels easier now because I’m not fighting myself anymore,” Maynard said. “I’ve learned to get out of my own way in some aspects, and just let the natural flow of my lifestyle take over. It’s not re-invention by any means. It’s a personal evolution. With age comes wisdom and growth, but dialing those things in for precision is what takes you to the next step.

“I’m happy to finally get a lot of things that have been weighing on my shoulders put behind me. I’m still training at Xtreme Couture and I have Jimmy Gifford as my coach. I’m putting the focus on me and not worry about anything else but that. I know what I have to do, and if I do those things, I’m going to come out on top every time.”