| Clay Guida – Moving On and Ready for Danzig |
One of mixed martial arts’ most accessible and affable fighters, Clay Guida said all the right things in the aftermath of his heartbreaking December 2007 loss to Roger Huerta. And knowing him, he probably meant every word he said.
But as he approached his return to the Octagon against Samy Schiavo in April, you could tell he had a little edge to his voice, a determination to not only put the defeat behind him, but to send a message to Schiavo and the rest of the lightweight division that he was back.
“Without a doubt,” said Guida, who blasted out Schiavo in the first round to even up his UFC record at 3-3. “That was something I needed in my career. I was 2-3 in the cage at that time, and if you’re not winning, you’re not around in the big shows.”
Perhaps more importantly, he was able to put the Huerta fight in his rear-view mirror, with it moving further and further back with each fight.
“That fight is something that will always be in the back of my mind, and the more wins I get, the less I’ll think about it,” he said. It was a learning experience, just like every fight, win or lose.
“I think it was one of those fights where we both got to display our skills,” Guida continues, talking about the bout named the best of 2007 by UFC.com. “I’m glad it didn’t end up where I got knocked out or submitted in ten seconds because then people would have thought I was a fluke or that Roger had handpicked an opponent. People know that when I’m in there it’s gonna be raw, it’s gonna be ugly, and it’s not gonna be the prettiest fight, but it’s gonna be exciting. I could have danced around and kept my distance in the third round, but I didn’t. I’m an in your face, scrappy dude.”
Guida then closes the chapter on that part of his career.
“It was a moral victory. People saw what happened for ten minutes.”
Now with that out of the way, and his comeback win in his back pocket, Guida can move on towards his initial goal in the UFC, which is to get to a world title shot at 155 pounds. He will make big strides towards that end game on Wednesday night if he can defeat The Ultimate Fighter season six winner Mac Danzig (Spike TV 8pm ET / PT) in a highly-anticipated scrap. And even though Guida won’t be competing in his home state of Illinois when the UFC travels there in October for UFC 90, a co-featured slot on national television certainly eases the pain.
“We signed the contract a couple of weeks before they announced it, and to me, a fight’s a fight,” said Guida about fighting his next bout in Nebraska and not Illinois. “If I have the opportunity to fight, I’m gonna take it. I’m gonna take full advantage of this, try to finish Mac as quick as possible, and maybe they’ll have a slot for me available in my backyard. (Laughs) But as far as exposure and everything, this is a huge opportunity for me against an Ultimate Fighter champion, and I’m looking forward to a big night for both of us.”
Danzig, who finished all of his fights en route to The Ultimate Fighter crown, has since scored a third round stoppage of Mark Bocek at UFC 83 in April, and while he was impressive in victory, Guida saw some things he’ll be able to exploit come Wednesday night.
“We’re gonna come guns slinging,” said ‘The Carpenter’. “I’m gonna be in his face, and if you watch some of his fights, he doesn’t deal with the pressure very well. I watched his Bocek fight, and I’m sure he’s a different fighter since April, but so am I. Bocek was in his face and getting takedowns and securing good positions and things like that. And that’s from mainly a jiu-jitsu guy. I think my jiu-jitsu is good, but I think my top control is better than Bocek’s, I’m positive my hands are better than his as well as my wrestling.
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So we’re gonna take what we saw from that fight and his last couple of fights, and pick and choose a few things that I think we’re going to be able to expose on the ground and on the feet.”
Guida isn’t going into the fight overconfident though, especially considering that the only way to move up the ranks is to put together a string of wins over quality foes. But with his exciting style and energetic personality, fans have adopted him as a favorite, win or lose.
“It wasn’t one of those things that was expected,” said Guida of his growing popularity. “We got two fights of the night, got some good name recognition, and they happened to throw a couple of my undercard fights on Spike and on Unleashed, and people saw someone that was exciting and that they could rally around.”
It didn’t hurt that Guida was seemingly at every fight card, not just as a participant or cornerman, but as a fan. It was almost like a ‘Where’s Waldo’ game trying to spot the 26-year old from Johnsburg, Illinois at events, but he’s just enjoying the ride.
“I embrace it, and I enjoy all the people coming up to me,” he said. “This has definitely been more than I expected. At first it was fun fighting in the local shows and getting the recognition in the area, but now it’s on a whole other level and it’s a whole different ballgame now.”
And it’s only getting bigger and better for Clay Guida.
“The sky’s the limit,” he said. “The way that Dana White and the Fertittas put together the UFC and market it is second to none. People are trying to duplicate it and they can’t even shake a stick at it. So as long as my management team keeps supporting me and I keep winning and have a smile on my face, as the UFC continues to grow, my name and the camps I train with will continue to grow, and to me, that means the most, that the people around us get to train and have fun with the sport. That’s what it’s about.”
| " | “Without a doubt,” said Guida, who blasted out Schiavo in the first round to even up his UFC record at 3-3. “That was something I needed in my career. I was 2-3 in the cage at that time, and if you’re not winning, you’re not around in the big shows.” |
