Rewind to WEC 53 in December.
Anthony Pettis is a +170 underdog to then-WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson going into their title fight. No one is picking the 24-year-old Roufusport prospect to walk out of Glendale, Ariz., with the belt, and most are picking him to get finished inside of three rounds.
One kick off the cage later, and Pettis is one of the top lightweights in the world? How the hell did this happen?
I had the same reaction as everyone else when Pettis landed the ‘Showtime Kick’ off the cage, which was a gasp, my jaw hitting the floor, and a steady stream of expletives flowing from my mouth.
I’ll never forget where I was when I saw it, and it is still one of my favorite MMA moments. But aren’t we all overreacting a bit?
Guida is a genuine threat to the lightweight title at this point in his career. Since joining Greg Jackson’s camp in late 2009, Guida has gone 3-1 with three straight submission victories including a win over former Pride champion Takanori Gomi at UFC 125.
Somehow, Jackson has found a way to harness Guida’s relentless attack into a controlled chaos, making him not only much harder to hit, but turning his normally flawed striking into a some serious head movement and has him throwing punches and kicks from unpredictable angles.
While Pettis will still have the advantage on the feet, Guida’s chin is legendary and ‘The Carpenter’s’ constant pressure will make it tough for Pettis to get the room he needs to hit his flashy strikes.
Once the fight hits the ground, and it will, Pettis is in Guida’s world.
Guida has always had an overwhelming top game, but the knock on him was that he didn’t do enough to finish and left himself open to getting submitted because of it.
Not anymore.
Since joining Jackson’s camp, Guida has improved his submission game dramatically, and is constantly working to finish, forcing his opponents to focus on surviving rather than trying to win the fight. This will prevent Pettis from throwing up his tricky triangle choke that has won him so many fights.
Pettis is a tough fighter, and he could eventually be a UFC champion one day, but this weekend is Guida’s time to show he his no longer a gatekeeper at 155 and he’ll walk away with a unanimous-decision victory.
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