On Saturday, November 12th, the UFC will be featured on FOX for the very first time. Unlike traditional UFC cards, only the heavyweight title bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will featured on FOX. Another match that is highly…
On Saturday, November 12th, the UFC will be featured on FOX for the very first time.
Unlike traditional UFC cards, only the heavyweight title bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will featured on FOX.
Another match that is highly anticipated will be Ben Henderson vs. Clay Guida.
Henderson and Guida are two of the UFC’s top lightweight contenders. Although it looks like the winner will be the next challenger for Frankie Edgar, nothing is promised when it comes to a title shot.
Here are the reasons why the winner should be next in line.
Filed under: UFC, UFC on FOXUFC on FOX is no ordinary event, so this is no ordinary odds breakdown. Normally we have a main card full of favorites and underdogs to sort through and pick away at. This time? It’s the main event, a lightweight contender b…
UFC on FOX is no ordinary event, so this is no ordinary odds breakdown. Normally we have a main card full of favorites and underdogs to sort through and pick away at. This time? It’s the main event, a lightweight contender bout, and then a lot of stuff that (at least by comparison) feels like filler designed to keep the fans in their seats until it’s time.
With the abbreviated TV offering just a few days away, it’s time to take a look at the action that really matters.
It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention so far, but before we get crazy can we talk about Velasquez’s injury layoff for a minute? Not only is a torn rotator cuff kind of serious, but it kept him out of the cage for almost 13 months. He hasn’t gone that long between fights since the first year of his career, so maybe we shouldn’t assume that it’ll be no big deal for him to jump right back into the cage against one of the world’s top heavyweights just like that. Ring rust is real, and it doesn’t help that one of Velasquez’s main sparring partners — former Olympic wrestling team captain Daniel Cormier — has been sidelined with a broken hand lately. You factor in the possibility that the champ might be feeling some pressure to brawl in order to give the FOX audience (and his boss) a show they’ll remember, and suddenly dos Santos starts to look like a very strong underdog pick, right? Maybe, but that is an awful lot of faith in a few intangibles. On paper, Velasquez’s speed and wrestling skills should make the difference. He ought to be able to get in close, negate dos Santos’ ability to box from the outside, and either put him down or rough him up in the clinch. It’s hard to feel terribly confident after the lay-off he’s had, but it’s also hard to pick against the champ at this point in his career. This is one fight where dos Santos will not be able to take his foot off the gas in the later rounds. My pick: Velasquez. If you were smart, you jumped on this line back when it was -150. Then again, if you’re smart you don’t bet on fights this tough to call to begin with.
I admit that I’d be salivating over this underdog line on Guida if not for one thing: Henderson’s last fight. Jim Miller was riding a seven-fight win streak and looked for all the world like the next major lightweight title challenger, and Henderson absolutely demolished him. If he can do that to Miller, who’s a solid all-around fighter, what can Guida threaten him with? It sounds as if Guida’s pinning his hopes on his wrestling and his non-stop motor here, and why not? It worked against Anthony Pettis, and if we want to start playing the transitive property game, we could point out that Pettis beat Henderson. At the same time, Henderson’s takedown defense keeps getting better, and he can be absolutely brutal when his striking game starts to click. Guida has outworked superior athletes before, but this is a tall order even for him. My pick: Henderson. I still think it’s a closer fight than these odds would suggest, but it’s a tough style match-up for Guida.
Quick picks:
– Ricardo Lamas (-130) over Cub Swanson (even). I’m afraid Swanson’s best days may be behind him. Lamas is just good enough to get the job done.
– DaMarques Johnson (-280) over Clay Harvison (+220). Johnson’s getting a much easier bout after stepping up late to face Sadollah. Expect him to make the most of it.
– “Kid” Yamamoto (-370) over Darren Uyenoyama (+280). Kind of seems like the UFC might be tossing Yamamoto an easy one to keep him around for at least a little while longer. Oh well.
Crazy underdog pick of the night: Pablo Garza (+220) over Dustin Poirier (-280). People may be getting a little too hot on Poirier just a tad too soon. There aren’t a lot of attractive underdog lines on this card, so this one will have to do.
The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Velasquez + Henderson + Johnson + Yamamoto
Filed under: UFC, UFC on FOXLOS ANGELES — When Clay Guida arrived at Wednesday afternoon’s UFC on FOX press conference, there was an empty chair and a card with his name on it waiting for him on the dais. By the time the press conference got underway,…
LOS ANGELES — When Clay Guida arrived at Wednesday afternoon’s UFC on FOX press conference, there was an empty chair and a card with his name on it waiting for him on the dais. By the time the press conference got underway, there was neither.
“They had spaces and then they realized, oh wait, they’re not showing our fight [on FOX] so why would we be up there?” said Guida. “I understand, but old duder could have been hanging out at the hotel, sitting by the pool or something.”
If you’re waiting to hear Guida complain about his lot in life, that’s about as close as you’ll get. Clad in shorts and a hoodie and looking more like he was ready for a day at the beach on this warm fall afternoon, Guida’s laid-back attitude fit right in with his southern California surroundings. If there’s any fighter in the UFC who could look so relaxed about not only being left off the historic FOX debut, but also about being pulled out of his hotel to stand around in the L.A. sun for no reason, clearly it was the duder.
When you really stop and think about it though, it’s hard to fathom how even Guida could not be seething with a certain quiet rage on this particular afternoon. Here he was, a few days away from a top contender bout with Ben Henderson — the kind of fight that can make or break a nearly 30-year-old fighter’s career — and he was being treated like the kid who’d showed up to the dance without a date.
In a way, being on the first UFC on FOX card makes him a part of history, but being relegated to the internet stream and the Spanish-language broadcast also makes him more of background player to that history than a living participant.
But instead of brooding in a corner while Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos soaked up the media attention, Guida sat in the front rows, snapping his own photos like one of the fans. He wasn’t interesting in griping about what he’d missed out on, he explained afterward, but rather focusing on where he still had to go.
“I’m not necessarily disappointed, more determined now,” said Guida. “Life has kind of come full circle and my MMA career has come full circle. Five years ago I was on the undercard of UFC 64, just trying to win my fight and get put on the broadcast. This one, hopefully there’s a chance, but they’re going to put it on FoxSports.com, Facebook, you know.”
In other words, people will see his fight, even if it’s just the hardcores. And Guida is confident that the bout will eventually find its way onto the airwaves, since “Dana [White] is a magician. …He will do his best to get it on TV.”
Of course, by the time the bout does air for English-speaking American viewers, there’s always the chance that Guida won’t like what they see. Some oddsmakers have Henderson as a nearly 3-1 favorite, and if Guida loses this chance to position himself as a lightweight title challenger, he may never get another one.
After all, his current four-fight win streak has been almost two years in the making, and he hasn’t faltered since his submission loss to Kenny Florian at UFC 107 — an experience that stays with him to this day, he said.
“I still use the Kenny Florian fight as motivation,” Guida said. “I thank him every day in my training for teaching me a lesson, unfortunately. I was trying to strike with a striker, but now I’ve learned to go back to my roots and that’s hard work and wrestling.”
It’s hard to argue that Guida has made the most of those two attributes in recent fights, but will it be enough against Henderson? Not surprisingly, Guida doesn’t seem to be stressing himself out over it at the moment.
“Patience is part of being a professional athlete,” he said. “Five years seems like a long time, but to me it seems like I was just stepping in the cage on Oct. 14, 2006. To me it’s about the journey, not just the destination.”
It was July 26, 2003 when Clay Guida entered the Octagon for the very first time to take on Adam Copenhaver in Ottawa, Illinois.Guida’s career got off to a rough start, as he was submitted via rear-naked choke midway through Round 1.Things didn’t get a…
It was July 26, 2003 when Clay Guida entered the Octagon for the very first time to take on Adam Copenhaver in Ottawa, Illinois.
Guida’s career got off to a rough start, as he was submitted via rear-naked choke midway through Round 1.
Things didn’t get any easier as “The Carpenter” would go on to lose two of his next five bouts.
However, things turned around for Guida, reeling off a career-best 15 consecutive wins before entering the Strikeforce organization in 2006.
Guida would only fight two fights before joining forces with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
In his first 10 UFC bouts, Guida would post a subpar 5-5 record and it appeared he’d never be a legitimate lightweight contender.
Still, Guida became a fan favorite over the course of his early career in the UFC, as he provided fans with the excitement and entertainment value they all search for and appreciate.
After going through the mediocre stretch of his career, Guida won four consecutive fights, including wins over Anthony Pettis and Takanori Gomi.
Now, Guida will take on arguably the toughest matchup in his career when he squares off with fellow lightweight Ben Henderson at UFC on FOX 1.
Despite displaying inconsistency over his UFC career, Guida has done everything that’s been asked of him and more.
He’s won four “Fight of the Night” awards, took home “Submission of the Night” honors twice, and even won “Fight of the Year” against Tyson Griffin at UFC 72 in ’07.
If Guida can find a way to defeat Henderson November 12th, he’ll have done enough to have earned a lightweight title fight against current champion Frankie Edgar.
Melvin Guillard was originally believed to be one fight away, but all hopes of that collapsed after being submitted by Joe Lauzon at UFC 136 in the very first round.
So, a win against Ben Henderson at UFC on FOX 1 will have certainly earned Clay Guida a lightweight title shot.
Clay Guida is used to be overlooked while competing in the stacked UFC lightweight division. While earning notable victories over such fighters as Takanori Gomi and Anthony Pettis, Guida has yet to pay his dues and receive a title shot. But “The C…
Clay Guida is used to be overlooked while competing in the stacked UFC lightweight division.
While earning notable victories over such fighters as Takanori Gomi and Anthony Pettis, Guida has yet to pay his dues and receive a title shot. But “The Carpenter” is just fine with continuing on facing the best fighters in the world.
This weekend, Guida will meet Benson Henderson on the preliminary card of UFC on FOX and although the winner might not necessarily be guaranteed a title shot, Guida just hopes to go out and perform how he usually does.
“We’ve been around [in the UFC] for five years and have never been in a rush to get a title shot, so we’re not starting now,” Guida told CagePotato.com. “Hopefully a big win against Henderson will put an exclamation point on me being the legit, No. 1 contender and show Joe Silva, Dana White, and the Fertita brothers.”
Henderson has also settled well at 155 pounds since his exit from the WEC last year, where he established himself as one of the company’s top stars. Henderson last loss was to Anthony Pettis, who coincidentally was defeated by Guida earlier this year at The Ultimate Finale 13. Guida believes Henderson presents a different challenge towards him and feels he is a tougher opponent than Pettis.
“Pettis stayed in Henderson’s face and kept him guessing. It would be smart to follow suit,” he said.
Guida is aware he isn’t favoured to beat Henderson, but he will look to use that mentality to prove the critics wrong.
“It’s time to go out there and prove the critics wrong,” he said.
Definitely a fight deserving of some air time at this weekend’s UFC on FOX 1, the lightweight bout between former WEC Lightweight champion Ben Henderson and Clay Guida will unfortunately be relegated to exciting viewers on Facebook and FoxSports.com.Th…
Definitely a fight deserving of some air time at this weekend’s UFC on FOX 1, the lightweight bout between former WEC Lightweight champion Ben Henderson and Clay Guida will unfortunately be relegated to exciting viewers on Facebook and FoxSports.com.
This battle of top contenders will likely culminate in the winner earning a shot at current UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
Both Henderson and Guida, known for their fast-paced fighting styles, will look to take the top spot and earn a chance at the champion as they fight at one of the biggest events in UFC history.
Here is the head-to-toe breakdown of this sure to be exciting match-up.
LOS ANGELES — When 
It was July 26, 2003 when