Gray Maynard before UFC 136 with his former coach Gil Martinez in the background (Getty)

With the massive growth of MMA, the stakes have gone through the roof for fighters in the UFC. Between improved salaries, discretionary bonuses, appearance fees and marketing deals, the difference between a champion and a contender can be staggering.

"These guys are making millions of dollar in every fight. If Gray Maynard was the champion right now, he'd be a millionaire. [...] He's not. He lost a lot of money by losing that fight," Frank Trigg said on "The MMA Insiders Show" on Las Vegas' ESPNRadio1100/98.9 FM.

Following a loss to Frank Edgar at UFC 136, Maynard felt that sting. He'd come so close, but in the end, Edgar has the belt and the big assignments.

[Related: Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound MMA rankings]

Maynard, faced with climbing back up the ladder, felt it was time for a change. A Las Vegas mainstay since 2006, he left Xtreme Couture and moved to American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Ca. But it wasn't simply about freshening things up.

"Gray just was not prepared. It was really one of those deals where a coach within his staff just would not pay attention any other coaches. He was getting really upset if any other coach tried to explain to him 'hey, this is how hard I'm going to push Gray in my session. You need to back off in your session so he can recover," said Trigg, a former trainer partner of Maynard's at Xtreme Couture. "[Maynard] wasn't prepared. It's ultimately up to one coach that didn't pay attention."

John Gunderson, another former teammate of Maynard's in Sin City, echoed the same sentiment about Maynard being less than prepped for the biggest fight of his life.

Before winning the UFC light heavyweight championship, Jon Jones dreamed of working in law enforcement. He got a taste of what his alternate timeline would look like when he went through a sampling of police academy training in Broome County, New York.

Though the dog training does not go so well, and it takes him a while to apprehend the thief's gun, Jones does show he could take on a second career if this whole fighting thing doesn't work out.

Other popular MMA content on Yahoo! Sports:
• Watch Jon Jones get attacked by a police dog
• Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound MMA rankings
• 'Rampage', 'Dragon' or wait: What to do with Dan Henderson?

(Getty Images)Dan Henderson appears to be a man with a world of options. Comfortable at both light heavyweight and middleweight, his winning streak and credentials in both Strikeforce and the UFC qualify him for a title shot. After his epic bout with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Henderson said he wanted to try for a title at whatever weight is first.

[Related: Y! Sports pound-for-pound rankings]

Unfortunately for Henderson, the light heavyweight belt will be contested in April, and the middleweight belt is up for grabs in June. He is involved in neither fight. The UFC's solution was to offer him Lyoto Machida, a former champ who most recently lost to Jon Jones in December.

"He doesn't want to fight Machida," [UFC president Dana] White said following Wednesday's UFC on FUEL event. "He doesn't want to wait. He's going to have to wait. Who does he want to fight? I don't know what to do with Dan. Dan's either going to have to wait for Jones or wait for Silva. Or fight somebody else."

Except, Henderson says he was never offered that bout. Via his Twitter account, Henderson disputed White's words.

Check out these pictures by Tracy Lee from the UFC's first event on Fuel. You'll see Diego Sanchez and his silver cross, T.J. Dillashaw's beatdown of Walel Watson and Ivan Menjivar's submission win.

White at a recent press conference (Cagewriter)Dana White always says what's on his mind. He's not afraid to call someone out even if it's himself.

Seconds after Jake Ellenberger crawled across the finish line to win his three-round fight against Diego Sanchez, fans began asking "what happened to all UFC main events being five rounds?"

Fuel TV's Ariel Helwani asked White.

"Because we blew it. It should've been a five round fight. [...] I'm looking at the fight going ... 'yeah, this should've been five rounds.' I think that when Diego and Ellenberger went back in there for that fourth the place would've went crazy. People were ready for it at home," said White.

White wouldn't name names. He took the blame. He confirmed it was not Fuel TV's decision. More importantly, he said all main events will be five rounders. Back in June, White announced that would be the case for all main events. Somehow this fight slipped through the cracks.

A disappointed Sanchez finds out he lost and there's no fourth or fifth round (Getty))

Grove and Silva nearly come to blows at the SCC 4 weigh in (Pro MMA Now)Diego Sanchez fought his rear end off last night in losing to Jake Ellenberger. The lead in to the fight was very revealing as Sanchez admitted he hadn't taken all elements of his career seriously enough. He seemed apologetic.

Just like the Season 1 "Ultimate Fighter" champion, Kendall Grove knows he's made mistakes along the way too, but he's not about to say he's sorry.

The headstrong Grove, who won TUF 3, is back fighting tonight in Las Vegas with a smaller promotion. Grove is headlining Superior Cage Combat 4 at the Orleans Arena. It's a solid card dotted with several UFC veterans. He may not be in the biggest show in the world, but Grove is happy with where he's at in his career.

"UFC was good, no doubt. But when I wanted to fight more it was 'no wait, wait. We'll tell you when you can fight.'  It's more easier on my head," Grove told ESPN1100/98.9 FM. Don't get me wrong, I love competing with the best fighters in the world, but not all thebest fighters are in the UFC. There's other fighters out there."

Tonight, he faces another UFC veteran in Jay Silva (7-5, 0-2 UFC). He's looking for the finish. That's something he wasn't doing in his last few fights with the UFC.

When Diego Sanchez fights, you can count on two things: he won't quit and he'll bring a touch of wackiness to the fight. This is the man who brought us the "Yes! Cartwheel" and who used the UFC video game to train. So of course he's the fighter who will walk out at UFC on Fuel 1 with a silver cross stretched out in front of him.

(Getty Images)The good news is that no vampires appeared at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, or things could have gotten ugly.

Since starting with Yahoo! Sports in September of 2008, I haven't missed a single UFC or Strikeforce event. There were a few I couldn't watch live, but I have DVRed or bought a replay of every pay-per-view, fight night, network event and Showtime show. Not missing any fights over the past three years is exactly what made Wednesday night so weird. I couldn't watch UFC on Fuel 1 because I don't have Fuel, and it's not likely that it will become available to me anytime soon. Did you have a similar experience?

Today, Fuel released highlights for those of us who couldn't watch, starting with Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez's Fight of the Night.

It was painful to miss such a good bout, as well as Stipe Miocic's Knockout of the Night.