Tag: Clay Guida

Diego Sanchez: Recent Fights by Teammates Clay Guida and Carlos Condit ‘Sucked’

Greg Jackson operates one of the most highly regarded MMA gyms in the world, producing countless champions over the years. However, the world-renowned coach has faced heavy criticism in recent years for producing “safe” fighters who look to outpoi…

Greg Jackson operates one of the most highly regarded MMA gyms in the world, producing countless champions over the years. 

However, the world-renowned coach has faced heavy criticism in recent years for producing “safe” fighters who look to outpoint opponents instead of looking for the finish. 

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez, one of Jackson’s students, agrees with the criticism, at least to some degree. 

On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Sanchez told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that he did not agree with with the way teammates Clay Guida and Carlos Condit approached their most recent fights. 

“I thought both of those fights sucked,” Sanchez said of Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz and Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard.”My coaches might get mad at me for that, but that’s my opinion and I’m allowed to have my opinion.”

Condit fought Diaz at UFC 143 for the UFC interim welterweight title, with “The Natural-Born Killer” winning a disputed unanimous decision. As a matter of fact, Sanchez personally believed Diaz won that fight. 

I thought Nick Diaz won the fight with Carlos. When you’re not engaging and you’re not fighting, that takes away what this sport is. That’s my opinion, that’s why I want to fight someone like the Diaz boys who will come and step in front of you and fight you. I guess that’s all opinion, but the fans, they have my back on this, and that’s what fighting’s all about. It’s for the fans, and Dana White knows this. That’s why he gets so pissed off when there’s crappy fights like that. Us as fighters, we must step it up if we want to get taken care of and get paid right and grow this fight into the biggest spot in the world, above all other sports, we have to get in the cage and we have to leave it all in the cage every time.

Sanchez won a fairly one-sided decision over Diaz at The Ultimate Fighter 2 finale, all the way back in Nov. 2005.

Guida, who lost a closely contested “Fight of the Year” effort against Sanchez in June 2009, lost another split decision in his most recent effort against Maynard at UFC on FX 4 in June. 

The difference was that the bout with Maynard din’t have the slightest bit of action, largely because of Guida’s game plan: run around the cage until “The Bully” gets tired.

Not only did the plan not work, “The Carpenter” greatly disappointed the fans who are used to seeing the perennial lightweight contender put on highly entertaining fights.

Before the interview was over, Sanchez, who also owns the 2006 “Fight of the Year” honor for his war with Karo Parisyan at UFC Fight Night 6, blames Guida and Condit for the lackluster fights.

“It’s on that fighter,” Sanchez said. “In the end, they lock the door and the coaches aren’t in there with you. In the end, if you’re in the UFC, you are a professional, you paid your dues, and you know exactly what this job entails. You should go in there as a professional and do what you do. … I’d rather go out swinging, fighting like a warrior, those last 30 seconds. I’m going to leave it all out in the cage and know that I’m trying to finish my opponent, even knowing that most of my time it ain’t going to be a finish.”

Before concluding, Sanchez also noted that there are plenty of entertaining Jackson’s MMA fighters on the UFC roster who consistently put on a show in the Octagon. 

“Don’t give Greg and Coach Wink the hard rap,” he said. “There’s so many Jackson fighters like me, guys like Jon [Jones], there’s so many guys who are just straight-up warriors, who leave everything in the cage.”

Also worth noting is that a rematch with Guida is now possible, as Sanchez also announced his intentions to move back down to 155 pounds last week after a recent 2-2 run at welterweight.

In 28 career fights, Sanchez has fought at lightweight three times, going 2-1. After impressive and entertaining wins over Guida and Joe Stevenson, he was thoroughly beaten by BJ Penn at UFC 107. 

Although Nate Diaz is already slated to face the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson for the lightweight title, Sanchez said he would like the younger Diaz brother to be his next opponent.

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UFC: Undermining the Myth of the Greg Jackson Game Plan

Greg Jackson is killing MMA, don’t you know? He constructs game plans for his fighters and, you know, other similarly nefarious deeds. That is the sort of charge I so often hear being levelled at Jackson’s MMA, albeit a slightly caricatured…

Greg Jackson is killing MMA, don’t you know? He constructs game plans for his fighters and, you know, other similarly nefarious deeds.

That is the sort of charge I so often hear being levelled at Jackson’s MMA, albeit a slightly caricatured version of it.

It happened after Condit vs. Diaz, Guida vs. Maynard, and in the aftermath of pretty much every GSP fight.

It shouldn’t take much to debunk this especially virulent myth, yet it persists in spite of the evidence.

While watching Spencer Lazara’s recent interview with Ronda Rousey, the Olympic bronze medalist made the following remarks regarding her upcoming bout with Sarah Kaufman:

You know, if she wants to jump on the bicycle and pull a Condit on me, I’m prepared for that too. I don’t have plans. I am the anti-Greg Jackson.

This all seems innocent enough. She’s just talking about her aversion to game plans, after all.

Well, it’s not quite that clear cut. The remarks come across much differently once you view the interview. They are delivered disdainfully, as though any association with Greg Jackson is enough to undermine a fighter’s credibility.

And just as a little side note, who does Ronda think she’s kidding? I daresay she has the most transparent game plan in all of MMA: secure top position and look for an armbar. But I digress.

A large outcry followed Clay Guida’s performance against Gray Maynard, and I was amongst their number. But unlike most, I settled for criticising the man most responsible for that farcical display, reminiscent of a Benny Hill sketch: Clay Guida.

Naturally, other people offered a different perspective. High profile fighters like Daniel Cormier and Dan Hardy were quick to point the finger at Jackson, along with a whole host of fans on Twitter.

Exactly the same reaction followed Condit vs. Diaz—a far less egregious demonstration of distance running.

MMA luminaries such as Duke Roufus, Pat Miletich, Ronda Rousey and, ahem, Cody McKenzie were all fiercely critical of the fact that Greg Jackson did not order Condit to fight flat-footed, as though he was under some obligation to tailor his game plan to suit Diaz’s style.

How did we acquire such selective memories? We seem to suffer from an extreme case of confirmation bias, acknowledging only that which supports our already-established views.

Need proof? Consider for a moment who else Greg Jackson trains: Donald Cerrone, Jon Jones, Melvin Guillard, Leonard Garcia, Brian Stann, Diego Sanchez and many more.

Each of the above are amongst the most exciting fighters one could ever hope to see. Rarely are they in a dull fight, gobbling up post-fight bonuses like Roy Nelson at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

It goes without saying that Jackson’s MMA gets precisely zero credit for how utterly watchable those fighters are. Indeed, Greg Jackson only ever seems to receive recognition for the worst of his camp.

When was the last time someone praised the Albuquerque-based gym for one of Jones’ or Cerrone’s compelling displays inside the cage? My memory likely doesn’t stretch back that far.

It is a curious fact about our psychology, that we so often ignore that which runs contrary to our beliefs. For whatever reason, Greg Jackson has been a victim of this particular phenomenon.

It is perhaps time that we learn to appreciate what Jackson’s MMA has brought to the sport, rather than tearing them down whenever one of their fighters fail to meet our expectations.

Then again, we seem to view success with suspicion and envy. That fact will doubtless continue to supersede our need for fair-mindedness.

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Gallery: 15 Photos of Fighters Sleeping Through the UFC Fighter Summit or Doodling Out of Boredom


(No, really Clay. Make yourself comfortable. Props: @JoeLauzon)

The UFC’s annual Fighter Summit — in which every fighter under the Zuffa roster is forcibly brought together for a series of lectures meant to educate and inspire — went down earlier this week in Las Vegas, and judging from this epic Sherdog thread, it was a nightmarish endurance test of boring presentations and insane guest speakers.

Browsing through the photos, you can just feel how uncomfortably warm the room was, how early the start-times were, how soul-crushingly dull some of those presentations turned out to be. (Anybody who’s suffered through an 8 a.m. Intro to Philosophy course in college can certainly relate.) The fighters coped as best as they could — mostly by napping and doodling. We’ve hand-picked some of our favorite photos that were tweeted out during the ordeal, and put them in the gallery below. Enjoy.

The UFC’s annual Fighter Summit — in which every fighter under the Zuffa roster is forcibly brought together for a series of lectures meant to educate and inspire — went down earlier this week in Las Vegas, and judging from this epic Sherdog thread, it was a nightmarish endurance test of boring presentations and insane guest speakers.

Browsing through the photos, you can just feel how uncomfortably warm the room was, how early the start-times were, how soul-crushingly dull some of those presentations turned out to be. (Anybody who’s suffered through an 8am Intro to Philosophy course in college can certainly relate.) The fighters coped as best as they could — mostly by napping and doodling. We’ve hand-picked some of our favorite photos that were tweeted out during the ordeal, and put them in the gallery above. Enjoy.

Greg Jackson Attempts to Explain Guida’s Strategy but Gets It All Wrong

We’ve gone over Clay Guida’s baffling strategy from his UFC on FX 4 fight against Gray Maynard ad nauseum.The fight was terrible. Guida executed a strategy that not only cost him a fight, but also cost him many fans in the process.We’ve heard it all.Bu…

We’ve gone over Clay Guida‘s baffling strategy from his UFC on FX 4 fight against Gray Maynard ad nauseum.

The fight was terrible. Guida executed a strategy that not only cost him a fight, but also cost him many fans in the process.

We’ve heard it all.

But we haven’t heard much from Jackson, who was quickly and wrongly derided by fans for creating nothing but safe fighters and boring game plans.

That couldn’t be further from the truth, and it’s interesting that the fans making that claim willingly overlook Cub Swanson’s knockout-of-the-night-winning performance from earlier in the night. They’re also overlooking a history of exciting performances from Jackson-coached guys like Jon Jones and Brian Stann.

Jackson was asked his thoughts on the hatred being directed at Guida after the fight, and he attempted to explain his fighter’s mindset going into the bout to Sherdog.com:

In a lot of those fun, exciting fights, he ended up on the wrong side of those. He would get dropped or he’d get choked out a lot of times. You have to be able to fight the guy that’s in front of you, and Gray is an incredible fighter. … To just run at that guy and throw caution to the wind and hope you don’t get caught with a big punch and choked out again, it is a little silly. You do want to be able to try to do something that maybe favors you a little bit.

Now again, we should have engaged a little bit more, and that’s just the way the fight went down, but I’m never going to tell my guy, ‘Listen, this guy does everything better than you. I just want you to take all the damage you can until he gets tired of punching you in the face so that everybody’s jumping up and down and then maybe you’ll win, but maybe you’ll just get choked out.’ That doesn’t seem very smart to me at all. … I’m always going to be trying to do it smartly. It’s got to be an entertaining fight obviously, but at the same time you can’t just jump on somebody that’s stronger than you, that hits harder than you and has better wrestling than you do.

Jackson is right. Guida’s penchant for exciting, crowd-pleasing fights has cost him in the past. 

But there’s one thing Jackson is overlooking. Being the kind of fighter who sends the crowd into raptures while occasionally losing can actually help your career far more than being a boring fighter that consistently wins. 

Look at Jon Fitch. He’s an excellent fighter and has often been considered one of the best welterweights in the world. But he also has a nasty habit for putting on slow, grinding fights. He was given a world-title shot only because he’d put together a winning streak so vast that he couldn’t be denied.

And then, once he lost to Georges St-Pierre, he was sent to the back of the line. Fitch will have an incredibly difficult time ever getting another title shot unless he puts together a massive winning streak, and it’s all due to his style.

Conversely, take a look at Dan Hardy. The guy lost four fights in a row and still wasn’t cut from the roster. Why? Because he puts on exciting fights every time he goes in the cage, the Anthony Johnson bout notwithstanding. 

Chan Sung Jung is another example. He lost his final two fights in the WEC, but after stringing together three consecutive wins in the UFC, he’s being seriously considered for a title shot, and it’s all due to his exciting style.

This sport is about winning fights, yes. That should be the goal of every fighter who goes in the cage.

But it’s also about entertaining the fans, about giving them something to remember you by and making them want to tune in when you fight. When you do that, you help the UFC’s bottom line. And when you help the UFC’s bottom line, the UFC helps you by giving you a ton of exposure and pushing your career to new heights. 

There’s a fine balance to be struck here, and it’s not an easy thing to juggle. 

Guida can’t go into the cage and lose fights because he’s trying to be—above all else—an entertaining fighter. But he also can’t utilize the kind of game plans he executed in the Maynard bout and expect to receive the same kind of support from the UFC that he’s enjoyed in the past.

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Gray Maynard Exclusive: Clay Guida Is the Worst Person in the World to Be Mad At

It would be hard to say anything went as planned last Friday night in Atlantic City. Two of the UFC’s top lightweight fighters squared off in the main event of UFC on FX 4. When the final bell sounded, those watching were left wondering what…

It would be hard to say anything went as planned last Friday night in Atlantic City. 

Two of the UFC’s top lightweight fighters squared off in the main event of UFC on FX 4. When the final bell sounded, those watching were left wondering what exactly they had just witnessed. 

While Gray Maynard may have picked up the split-decision victory over Clay Guida, he was certainly amongst the majority who were confused and frustrated by what had just taken place.

Throughout the bout Maynard watched as Guida’s game plan went from elusive to escaping. Where Guida was scoring with strikes in the first two rounds, the final three frames saw “The Carpenter’s” output diminish considerably, replaced by swift movement around the cage.

The frustration boiled over in Round 4 when Maynard dropped his hands in an effort to invite Guida into an exchange. The plan worked. After allowing Guida to tee off on him with three clean shots, Maynard was able to turn the tide of the fight with a guillotine attempt. 

Following the judges’ decision, the tension continued backstage as the two fighters exchanged words during their post-fight medicals. UFC President Dana White’s video blog captured the ordeal as it went down. 

“It was a frustrating fight, man, and I think that was obvious to everyone,” Maynard told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview after the fight. “It was just crazy to me. Obviously I want to put on a good fight and do my job, but this was the first time I’ve ever had to deal with anything like that in an actual bout. In the fourth round I had enough and did what I had to do to get him to engage. We are here to fight, bro. Let’s do it. 

“I try to look at it from their point of view. They put together a plan, thought it would work and at the end of the day everyone wants to win. It was a crazy fight, and I guess if people are talking about it then it has to be worth something.

“Clay is the worst guy in the world to be mad at because he’s one of the coolest guys on the planet. That’s the crazy thing about it. It sucks things got so nasty between us because he’s really a good dude. It was the heat of the moment and things just carried on afterward. I don’t have any ill will toward him.”

The victory over Guida marked a triumphant return for Maynard and became yet another positive step on a road filled with change. 

Maynard had a turbulent 2011 that saw him come up short on his title hopes. He also made the difficult decision to leave his longtime camp in Las Vegas, Xtreme Couture.

Maynard’s current focus is on regaining the focus and happiness he felt slip away last year.

A big step in that process was settling into his new home at American Kickboxing Academy. He spent the majority of his camp training in San Jose. While he knows he’s found a new home at AKA, Maynard understands the results of the move will not show themselves overnight. 

“It’s a new camp and there is a lot of stuff to do,” Maynard said. “I’m going to evolve, learn more and work to become better. There were things I learned and wasn’t able to show in this fight, but that is the way things go sometimes. 

“On paper everything looked great for the camp. I went to AKA to train on this day and then over here for something on a different day. But you have to make it all mesh, and it takes some time. AKA is an awesome camp, (and) Nova Uniao is great as well, but there are a couple of kinks I definitely have to work out. That is going to take some time. 

“You don’t move to a new camp and things become flawless automatically. It takes work, and I’m excited to continue that progression.”

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Clay Guida Doesn’t Care If You Thought His Fight with Gray Maynard Was Boring

Clay Guida has been lambasted—by the fans, the media and by his own boss—for his performance against Gray Maynard last Friday night at UFC on FX 4.That’s a rare thing. Guida’s UFC career has been built and sustained by the fans who love his…

Clay Guida has been lambasted—by the fans, the media and by his own boss—for his performance against Gray Maynard last Friday night at UFC on FX 4.

That’s a rare thing. Guida’s UFC career has been built and sustained by the fans who love his all-out style. It’s that very style that arguably turned him into the most beloved lightweight on the UFC roster.

But it was his decision to abandon that style in favor of a points-based game plan against Maynard that turned the fans against him as the fight evolved on Friday night.

I understand the fan reaction. When Clay goes in the cage, you’re expecting an action fight. When something like the Maynard bout happens, it’s easy to be disappointed. 

Guida doesn’t care, though. He went into the cage with a game plan, and he feels like he executed the game plan perfectly: 

“I think sometimes judges get the misconception of what mixed martial arts really is,” Guida told MMAjunkie.com after the fight. “The guy who gets hit the least usually is the victor. I can’t wait to see the FightMetric of strikes that were landed versus strikes that were thrown. (It was) five rounds of fun. 

Well, it wasn’t five rounds of fun. Not for Maynard and certainly not for the fans. It was difficult to watch, and outside of the final minute or so of the fourth round when Maynard lost his mind and went all Diaz Brothers on Guida, it was incredibly boring.

And there’s also the fact that Maynard actually out-struck Guida, landing 52 total strikes to 49 for Guida. Clay threw more punches — 327, to be exact — but throwing punches without landing them doesn’t count for much.

Guida went into more detail about his game plan:

“The goombahs in the crowd – the boos motivate me, and I was just getting into my groove,” Guida said. “(Should I use) the game plan that they’re used to from me, playing Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and getting my head kicked off or punched in the face? Or stick to a smart strategy and don’t be there for big punches? I like my game plan that Greg and Coach (Mike Winkeljohn) and (Israel Martinez) came up with.” 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a game plan that involves getting hit in the face as few times as possible. In fact, I think it’s a great idea. Lyoto Machida made a career of it, and it worked to perfection for Carlos Condit against Nick Diaz.

But this wasn’t proper execution of that style. If you’re trying to tire out your opponent in the early rounds so that you can capitalize in the later rounds, you actually have to capitalize in the later rounds. Guida’s strategy wasn’t a bad one. Attempting to tire Maynard out was actually a pretty genius idea.

But Maynard didn’t tire out, and Guida’s strategy didn’t change. That’s the main issue I have with the fight. You can’t continue to try and wear down your opponent by running for five rounds, because time will eventually run out without you scoring any kind of major points in the eyes of the judges.

And that’s exactly what happened at UFC on FX 4.

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