Either Cub Swanson or Dustin Poirier are going to be one step closer to becoming true contenders for the UFC featherweight title after UFC on Fuel 7. The two 145ers will co-headline the London event, and the winner will have a strong case to enter the …
Either Cub Swanson or Dustin Poirier are going to be one step closer to becoming true contenders for the UFC featherweight title after UFC on Fuel 7. The two 145ers will co-headline the London event, and the winner will have a strong case to enter the title picture. Swanson has seen his struggles throughout his […]
Clay Guida‘s 29-13 record marks him for little more than a journeyman, but his output since 2009 suggests he’s primed to challenge for UFC gold at long last. Between 2009 and 2012, Guida amassed a 5-4 record in the UFC lightweight division. Pretty ordinary, I know. But a look at “The Carpenter’s” competition during that […]
Clay Guida‘s 29-13 record marks him for little more than a journeyman, but his output since 2009 suggests he’s primed to challenge for UFC gold at long last. Between 2009 and 2012, Guida amassed a 5-4 record in the UFC lightweight division. Pretty ordinary, I know. But a look at “The Carpenter’s” competition during that […]
(Careful Clay, all those fruity, sugary, woman drinks ironically go right to the hips.)
On the heels of a razor thin split decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFC on FX 4, his second loss to top tier competition in as many fights, it appears that everybody’s favorite energizer bunny/alcoholic, Clay Guida, will be dropping to featherweight for his next fight. Although no debut date or opponent have been decided as of this write up, Guida told MMAJunkie that he expects to make his featherweight debut sometime in early 2013.
Prior to his current two fight skid, Guida racked up four straight wins over such names as former PRIDE lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi and former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis among others, pulling in two Submission of the Night awards in the process and bringing his total award count to 7.
(Careful Clay, all those fruity, sugary, woman drinks ironically go right to the hips.)
On the heels of a razor thin split decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFC on FX 4, his second loss to top tier competition in as many fights, it appears that everybody’s favorite energizer bunny/alcoholic, Clay Guida, will be dropping to featherweight for his next fight. Although no debut date or opponent have been decided as of this write up, Guida told MMAJunkie that he expects to make his featherweight debut sometime in early 2013.
Prior to his current two fight skid, Guida racked up four straight wins over such names as former PRIDE lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi and former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis among others, pulling in two Submission of the Night awards in the process and bringing his total award count to 7.
His most recent fight with Maynard was, at the risk of overusing the term, “Starnesian” to say the least — consisting of long periods of inactivity and avoidance (one which earned him a timidity warning from referee Dan Miragliotta) punctuated by the occasional combination — and was criticized by both the fans and Dana White, who declared the contest to be “a blowout for Maynard” and “not a fight” at all. Personally, I think Guida was simply protesting the decision that forced him to braid his hair, which was a goddamned travesty in every sense of the word. That being said, a good percentage of the viewing audience still scored the fight in favor of Guida, because denial is a powerful, powerful thing (insert vitriol filled “hack journalist”, “fool”, and “disgrace to MMA writers around the world” comments here). In either case, you have to imagine Guida will be looking to impress both the audience and his supreme overlord in his next bout.
Well, that didn’t take long. Just nine days after announcing his drop to featherweight, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar accepted a fight with featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 153, replacing an injured Erik Koch. The news…
Well, that didn’t take long. Just nine days after announcing his drop to featherweight, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar accepted a fight with featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 153, replacing an injured Erik Koch. The news broke very early Friday morning on MMAJunkie and in Friday’s edition of USA Today. For UFC President Dana […]
Having heard incessant ramblings urging him to drop to featherweight, ever since he lost his lightweight title to Ben Henderson back in February, his failure to recapture the title has convinced Frankie Edgar, yes, it’s time to make that move. On…
Having heard incessant ramblings urging him to drop to featherweight, ever since he lost his lightweight title to Ben Henderson back in February, his failure to recapture the title has convinced Frankie Edgar, yes, it’s time to make that move. One of the smallest lightweights in the division’s history, the fact that he was able […]
(Frankie Edgar vs. Dominick Cruz for the UFC bantamweight title, with special guest referee Michael Vick. Dare we dream? | Photo via the best communications director in MMA)
For years, everyone from UFC President Dana White to fans of former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar have called for “The Answer” to drop down to a more natural competition weight of 145 pounds because he’s so much smaller than just about everyone he’s faced in the Octagon. To this point, Edgar has only seemed to be annoyed at the suggestion — after all, he clearly has no problem competing with the relative behemoths at lightweight — but now even his team seems to be saying he should drop down…to bantamweight.
You read that correctly (or maybe you didn’t, we really can’t vouch for either your vision or literacy, so get off our back, ok?): Edgar’s boxing coach and The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry says that he’d like to see Edgar, who he says walks around at just 157-159 pounds, instead campaign at 135 pounds:
“Me personally, I’d like to see Frankie for like a year to take a rest on his back and his body to fight people at 135 to do what everybody in the whole MMA community is [doing] and suck him down to nothing, looking like their death the day of the weigh-in and fight people that weigh as much as him,” Henry said while a guest on the SiriusXM Fight Club radio show Monday.
(Frankie Edgar vs. Dominick Cruz for the UFC bantamweight title, with special guest referee Michael Vick. Dare we dream? | Photo via the best communications director in MMA)
For years, everyone from UFC President Dana White to fans of former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar have called for “The Answer” to drop down to a more natural competition weight of 145 pounds because he’s so much smaller than just about everyone he’s faced in the Octagon. To this point, Edgar has only seemed to be annoyed at the suggestion — after all, he clearly has no problem competing with the relative behemoths at lightweight — but now even his team seems to be saying he should drop down…to bantamweight.
You read that correctly (or maybe you didn’t, we really can’t vouch for either your vision or literacy, so get off our back, ok?): Edgar’s boxing coach and The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry says that he’d like to see Edgar, who he says walks around at just 157-159 pounds, instead campaign at 135 pounds:
“Me personally, I’d like to see Frankie for like a year to take a rest on his back and his body to fight people at 135 to do what everybody in the whole MMA community is [doing] and suck him down to nothing, looking like their death the day of the weigh-in and fight people that weigh as much as him,” Henry said while a guest on the SiriusXM Fight Club radio show Monday.
“What he’s doing now I don’t think he gets enough credit for,” Henry continued. “You’re talking about guys that weigh 155-160 — what he walks around at — even when he isn’t training. Who’s doing that? That would be like Ben [Henderson] fighting Anderson Silva. He walks around and he’s 157. He comes back from Disneyland after his last fight or two fights ago and he’s 157, 158 or 159. I don’t think Frankie gets enough credit for what he’s accomplishing and doing in MMA.”
If Edgar truly walks around that light, that must be why he looks like he looked liked he was fighting his uncle in his matches with Gray Maynard and Benson Henderson. What do you say, Nation? Now that he’s lost two fights in row to Henderson, should Edgar do what most other fighters do and diet and cut down from about twenty pounds above their contracted weights for fights? Or would Frankie be better off keeping his speed and energy advantage at lightweight?
