For years, Clay Guida was a fan favorite who put on thrilling battles, win or lose.
In his recent fights, though. Guida’s game has changed. While he’s still winning and losing his fair share of fights, he’s become a far more conservative competitor.
His opponent at UFC 164 on Saturday, Chad Mendes, says that he’s going to be ready for either Guida to enter the Octagon.
“You just don’t know what Clay is going to show up,” the featherweight contender said at Thursday’s UFC 164 press conference in Milwaukee. “Is it going to be the Clay that’s in your face and never letting you breathe, or is it the point fighter we’ve seen lately? You definitely don’t know. We’ve trained for both and that movement is something we have our eyes on, and we’re planning for it.”
Mendes, of course, has had Guida on his mind awhile, since the two were originally scheduled to meet at UFC on FOX 7 in April before Guida had to pull out with an injury.
“It’s always hard to train for a guy like that you know,” Mendes said. “We’ve had to do it at Team Alpha Male with [Dominick] Cruz for [Urijah] Faber. We’ve had to do it the last two camps, because i was supposed to fight Clay that last fight also. I’ve basically gone through almost two camps for Clay, but yeah, it’s tough.”
If Guida’s response when asked about Mendes’ comments are any indication, we should expect the new version of Guida in the Octagon on Saturday.
“I don’t just stalk forward like a zombie and come swinging for the fences,” Guida said. “There’s meaning and there’s purpose behind my footwork now.”