Now down to the final bout of his UFC contract, veteran Clay Guida hopes he gets an extension to prove he still has a lot of fight left in him.
Veteran Clay Guida has been fighting in the UFC since 2006 when he made his debut at UFC 64. Along the way, he’s faced a who’s who of names including former champions Rafael dos Anjos, Anthony Pettis, B.J. Penn, and Benson Henderson, as well as company superstars like Nate Diaz, whom he holds a win over.
16 years and 32 fights later, “The Carpenter” is still a part of the UFC’s active roster. But as he enters his upcoming bout against Claudio Puelles at UFC Vegas 52 this weekend, Guida revealed that it would also be the last fight on his current contract.
“A lot of people don’t know this, it’s contract time,” Guida told reporters during Thursday’s media day. “This is the last fight of a four-fight deal. So there’s no pressure on me, but I wanna prove to Dana White, to Sean Shelby, to the rest of the UFC world, the fans, that I’m here to stay. That I’m getting better at 40.
“And like coach Danny (Castillo) and I always say: the best is yet to come. And we’re gonna get another contract in here, we’re gonna go out there and look for a finish like we always do.”
Guida (37-21) last saw action at UFC Vegas 44 against Brazil’s Leonardo Santos in December. He won via second-round submission along with a $50K bonus for Performance of the Night.