For lightweight contender Gray Maynard (Pictures), patience is a virtue.

Sure, Maynard is confident that he has it in him to become the best fighter in the world. But as it stands right now, he agrees with the pundits who claim he is merely a green reality TV star.

"I'm always like, ‘Alright Gray, you gotta prove it. You were on the TV show and it was cool, but now you really gotta do it,'" Maynard said. "People don't think too highly of me because I'm new and that's totally fair."

It's a refreshing opinion considering today's athlete who scoffs at criticism and thinks he can tackle the world with one arm tied behind his back. Maynard grasps the notion that with time and hard work, fortunes and championships could follow.

"I haven't been at the top yet and I know I can do it," Maynard said. "But I have to just go in there and prove it. When I do accomplish that, then the people will give the respect and tell me what a good job I did. Until then, though, the criticism is fair because I haven't proven anything yet. I have no problem with anybody saying I'm only a TV guy so I gotta really step it up. I keep getting better, so eventually I'll be where I want to be."

Where he wants to be is fighting for a world title, specifically within the UFC's Octagon. The next obstacle in his path toward that goal is Dennis Siver (Pictures), whom Maynard will meet Wednesday in Las Vegas on the undercard of SpikeTV's latest UFC Fight Night broadcast.

"Gray looks great," said Randy Couture (Pictures), who trains with Maynard at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. "He just continues to improve on his skills. He's been working more on his wrestling and ground skills and refining his standup skill as well. His conditioning looks fantastic. His weight's under control. I think he's on track to peak at the right time, and this German kid will get a nice welcoming into the UFC."

Maynard, who spoke with Sherdog.com at Couture's recent charity poker event in Las Vegas, will be competing in a dark bout inside the Palms Hotel, but that's not preventing him from wanting to fight like it's the main event.

He also doesn't want to wind up beaten like he was in the poker tourney -- he was ousted on his first hand -- nor does he expect his fight to end as quickly as his last outing. In September Maynard obliterated Joe Veres (Pictures) officially in nine seconds, though the fight appeared to be called off a bit sooner than that.

"If it was a little bit longer, it would have been OK," Maynard joked of his blink-of-an-eye bombardment of Veres. "But since I was so close to the UFC record, it's a little [disappointing]. I think Don Frye (Pictures) has like an eight-second knockout and I was close. It was kind of cool to get a knockout that early, but you want to make people pay -- you want to fight. I usually do about an eight-week camp where I eat clean and train very hard. I want to go in there and make the guy pay for it. But you take what you can get in this sport because it could easily be you. I guess the nine-second win wasn't too bad."

Lest someone believe that Maynard feels he'll blow away Siver in a similar fashion to how he dispatched Veres, Gray is quick to point out that a knockout like that is a once in a lifetime occurrence.

"Nah, I don't think that'll happen with Siver," Maynard said. "He's a very tough guy, not that Joe wasn't. I know he's got a little bit of judo and some jiu-jitsu. I know he's got some good kickboxing, of course. He's a tough guy, so I can't wait to get back in there. I have trained for this fight to go the distance, but if [another quick knockout] comes, I won't be mad."

Maynard is fully aware of the depth of UFC's 155-pound division, especially when it's anchored by such figures as B.J. Penn (Pictures), Sean Sherk (Pictures), Joe Stevenson, Roger Huerta (Pictures) and others. With such a stable of world-class MMA fighters under the Zuffa umbrella, Maynard said he won't try to rush his ascent up the ladder and will simply bide his time until he's ready.

But that also means that he's not willing to fight hopeless tomato cans along the way either.

"I'm always trying to go up against the best," Maynard said. "There are a lot of guys who are tough, so I just want to jump into it. I gotta win, of course, because if I don't, I'll be right back down at the bottom. I just gotta keep going. Whoever it is, I gotta go in there prepared and kick some butt. I want to slowly increase my level of competition and once I feel that I'm ready for [the best], I'll see what I'm made of."

Although Maynard may not yet know what he's made of, Couture seems confident it's something special.

"He's got what it takes to become a great fighter just on natural talent, as he's very strong and powerful," Couture said. "I think that as long as he continues to learn and keeps an open mind and continues to train as hard as he does, I don't see why he can't become a champion some day."