Clay Guida defeated Anthony Pettis with a dominant wrestling game.There are plenty of other talented wrestlers in the UFC lightweight division, so how does Guida stack up?As he continues his push towards the top of the division and a potential future t…
Clay Guida defeated Anthony Pettis with a dominant wrestling game.
There are plenty of other talented wrestlers in the UFC lightweight division, so how does Guida stack up?
As he continues his push towards the top of the division and a potential future title shot, Guida is going to have to face fighters with his level of wrestling or even greater.
The top guys are all so talented that advantages are determined by a matter of milliseconds and centimeters. These are the top five wrestlers in the UFC’s lightweight division.
Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceClay Guida beat Anthony Pettis on Saturday night. Of course he did. When it comes to MMA, Guida is an unrelenting energy field that shakes up everything in his path, and while he took a big step forward in his own career, h…
Clay Guida beat Anthony Pettis on Saturday night. Of course he did. When it comes to MMA, Guida is an unrelenting energy field that shakes up everything in his path, and while he took a big step forward in his own career, he only served to further muck up the waters of the UFC lightweight division. As you probably know, before Saturday, Pettis was the No. 1 contender in waiting, and just needed to get past Guida at the TUF 13 Finale to keep his place in line. As often seems to be the case when fighters risk their shot at gold, he fell short, and now must rebuild his resume while his name falls out of the contenders’ conversation.
In a sport that is constantly looking forward, we always want to know who is next, and right now, that is a question with no answer. The only thing we know is that Gray Maynard is supposed to get the next title opportunity against Frankie Edgar, probably in the late summer or early fall.
But beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess.
Much will depend on what happens between now and Edgar-Maynard III, whenever that might be. For example, Jim Miller is supposed to face Ben Henderson at the UFC on Versus show scheduled for August 14. Miller has won seven straight fights, including two finishes in a row. A win over Henderson would make it difficult to discount his chances, and even harder to say he doesn’t have the current best resume out of all the hopefuls.
Amazingly, the only two career losses of Miller (20-2) came against Edgar and Maynard, respectively, giving the UFC an easy storyline to push regardless of which man wins. But all that, of course, is dependent on Miller himself winning first. Given Henderson’s wrestling prowess and ability to stay out of submissions, that’s no sure thing.
Guida, of course, has his own case to make. He’s now won four in a row with his win over Pettis. While he received some criticism for his somewhat conservative performance in the win, to be fair we must note that Guida had finished three opponents in a row before that.
Now here’s the problem. Even if you say one of those guys is definitively above the other, either of them could lose before a date with the Edgar-Maynard winner ever gets made. As we noted, Miller’s already got an upcoming bout set up, and Guida might also take another fight while he’s waiting for the champ and No. 1 contender to finish off their trilogy. The UFC has cards to fill, and Guida isn’t exactly known for saying no to fights.
We don’t have a specific date for Edgar-Maynard because the champ is still recovering from a back injury, and so we can’t yet assume he’ll be ready to go, even by the fall. No one except Maynard is likely to sit around and wait for him, and even he only for so long. Until then, we’ll be forced to play the speculation game.
Aside from Miller and Guida, things get really interesting. Who else is in the running? Among UFC fighters, you’d have to say that Melvin Guillard — winner of four straight, and six of his last seven — is probably the next closest, while Dennis Siver — 6-1 in his last seven — also has an argument.
Other possibilities? How about Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez? With its recently announced Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre, champion vs. champion fight, the UFC opened a Pandora’s box, giving us free reign to speculate about these types of possibilities. If it is the best fight, or the fight people most want to see, the UFC will have no choice but to consider it. Given the depth of the division, it seems less likely than pulling Diaz into the octagon, but it’s not an impossibility.
So, to recap, as it stands in early June, Miller, Guida, Guillard, Siver and Melendez are the five likeliest challengers. But there are far too many variables involved in any decision about who’s next, making any guesswork premature. Instead, we’ll be forced to wait and see how things play out. The opportunity is there for the taking, and Guida just fired the latest shot, so it’s up to the rest of the hopefuls to respond or be left behind. Until then, we get to sit around, debate, and play amateur matchmaker. But that’s half the fun of our sport anyway. The lightweight division is suddenly the wild, wild west, a land of opportunity and possibility. Hitch a ride on your respective war wagon, but come armed with patience. It’s going to be a long and bumpy ride on the way to the gold rush.
Despite beating former No. 1 contender Anthony Pettis, Clay Guida will still have to wait in line for a lightweight title shot. UFC President Dana White told MMAfighting that Jim Miller (20-2) is ahead of Guida in the divisional rankings despite his wi…
Despite beating former No. 1 contender Anthony Pettis, Clay Guida will still have to wait in line for a lightweight title shot.
Miller is currently riding a seven-fight win streak. The only two loses in his career have come to current lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and Grey Maynard.
For months now Miller has been trying to plead his case for a title shot. Maybe he’ll get his wish sooner than later.
Many may feel Guida deserves the title shot since he beat the No. 1 contender. On the other hand despite being taken down over and over, Pettis was able to fight off of his back, nearly putting Guida in submission holds multiple times.
Miller can make his case even stronger if he is able to get past former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson at UFC Live Lytle vs. Hardy in August.
Because it is unknown when exactly the championship bout between Edgar and Maynard will take place, a possible bout between Guida and the winner of Miller vs. Henderson could determine who the No. 1 contender really is.
With the Ultimate FIghter 13 Finale now finished, the landscape of the lightweight division has changed dramatically.Grinding his way to a decision win, Clay Guida halted the ascent of former WEC Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Guida took down “Sh…
With the Ultimate FIghter 13 Finale now finished, the landscape of the lightweight division has changed dramatically.
Grinding his way to a decision win, Clay Guida halted the ascent of former WEC Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Guida took down “Showtime” numerous times and kept a seemingly dominant position for all three rounds, leading to a unanimous decision victory.
“The Carpenter” is now another win closer to a shot at the title and has risen through the ranks of the UFC’s lightweights. Here’s how last night’s contestants stack up against the top 10 lightweights in the UFC.
Filed under: UFC, WECLAS VEGAS – On Thursday, Clay Guida was asked after his workout if the lightweights that merged over from the WEC – and most importantly, his opponent Anthony Pettis – were worthy of the UFC.
LAS VEGAS – On Thursday, Clay Guida was asked after his workout if the lightweights that merged over from the WEC – and most importantly, his opponent Anthony Pettis – were worthy of the UFC.
“He’s got four or five wins over some pretty worthy opponents,” Guida said after a workout at The Palms in Las Vegas. “Are they UFC-worthy? We’ll find out in the next couple months. Is he UFC-worthy? We’ll find out in the next couple days. He didn’t fight any slouches, (but) we’re going to see what he’s made of.”
Pettis didn’t do anything to make anyone think he doesn’t belong in the UFC on Saturday night, despite a 30-27 unanimous decision loss to Guida at “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 13 Finale. But he said after the fight he now knows he has some work to do.
“I feel I had some holes in my game, and Clay Guida and (coach) Greg Jackson did of a good job of having a good game plan,” Pettis said after saying he had no regrets for taking the fight instead of waiting out a lightweight title shot that had been promised him in December. That shot was put on hold after a draw between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, who now are recovering from training injuries before a rematch later this year.
Guida was able to control the fight using an offense that consisted primarily of takedowns and ground control. He took Pettis down five times in the fight and passed his guard four times – three times in the third round. And according to FightMetric, he also outstruck Pettis.
Pettis said it was that control by Guida, which kept him on top much of the fight, that earned him the win. Pettis worked repeatedly for triangles and armbars from guard, but Guida was able to stay busy enough to keep out of imminent danger.
“I think control-wise, he was on top and he did a good job staying on top,” Pettis said. “I couldn’t get my submissions off – I attempted a lot, I hit him a lot, but I understand how the game works. He controlled things, and he won. I knew I had to get off my back to deal with Clay. But I’ll work on it and come back stronger.”
Guida said Pettis’ game from guard gave him problems, as did several highlight-reel kicks that just missed, bringing back memories of his kick off the cage against Ben Henderson when he won the last WEC lightweight title in December.
But if Guida had any doubts on Thursday whether Pettis was ready for the UFC, they were answered Saturday. Guida seems to think so.
“He must have thrown 10 or 12 triangles and armbars,” Guida said. “And he hit me lights-out a couple times. Punched me, elbowed me – tough as nails. He’s got a real tricky guard, and he’s a real talented kid.”
On Saturday night, Clay Guida executed his game plan to perfection, took down a superior striker in Anthony Pettis and held him off long enough to win a decision. Some fans called it lay and pray and said it made a promising fight extremely boring.Othe…
On Saturday night, Clay Guida executed his game plan to perfection, took down a superior striker in Anthony Pettis and held him off long enough to win a decision.
Some fans called it lay and pray and said it made a promising fight extremely boring.
Others said it was the perfect way to shut down a fighter like Pettis, and that the constant submission attempts from Pettis on the bottom made it impossible for Guida to try and mount any offense of his own.
Obviously, there are two sides to every argument, but the one thing that tonight showed us is that Guida has become a serious contender for UFC gold.
Dana White has constantly told us that styles make fights, and if we believe him, then you have to believe that Guida’s style makes him a tough matchup for anyone in the division.
The dream skill set for Guida, a wrestler who likes to grind out opponents, comes down to three things.
Relentless pressure and cardio.
The ability to stifle submissions from the fighter on bottom.
An iron chin to prevent you from getting caught on the way in for a takedown.
Guida exhibited once again that he has the best cardio in the sport, going full speed at Pettis for 15 minutes and showing his submission defense has improved dramatically since joining Greg Jackson’s camp in late 2009.
On top of that, Guida’s chin has never come into question as he has never been knocked out in 40 career bouts and has very rarely been rocked. His insane recovery after being kicked in the face by Diego Sanchez comes to mind when you think about how awesome his chin is.
The bottom line is that while Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard are both wrestlers who sit at the top of the division, Guida is a real threat to whichever one of them wins their title fight later this year.
Edgar was able to stuff a few of Maynard’s takedowns back at UFC 125, but he lost his only fight to Maynard back in 2008 by being held on his back for three rounds.
You have to wonder if Guida’s relentless pressure would eventually get to him in a five-round title fight, as it is unlikely that Edgar could finish Clay.
On the other side, Maynard has one of the best wrestling pedigrees in the sport but he showed that his cardio is a bit lacking when he tired out against Edgar back on New Year’s Day.
If Guida was able to avoid the big shot and put the pressure on Maynard for the first couple rounds, he could possibly steal a decision in the later rounds.
A few years ago, it would have been laughable to even suggest that Guida would even be able to get a title shot in the UFC, never mind actually wear the belt.
But it seems like Greg Jackson has turned Guida into a focused, energy driven machine, and it is quite possible that the TUF 13 finale was the beginning of the ‘Era of the Carpenter.’
LAS VEGAS – On Thursday, Clay Guida was asked after his workout if the lightweights that merged over from the WEC – and most importantly, his opponent Anthony Pettis – were worthy of the UFC.