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.
At “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale” on Saturday evening in Las Vegas, Clay Guida outwrestled the flashy Anthony Pettis in taking a unanimous decision victory over the last WEC lightweight champion. It was by far the biggest win of Guida&rsq…
At “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale” on Saturday evening in Las Vegas, Clay Guida outwrestled the flashy Anthony Pettis in taking a unanimous decision victory over the last WEC lightweight champion.
It was by far the biggest win of Guida’s career and immediately launched him into the upper echelon of the UFC’s stacked lightweight division.
In wake of the win, Guida told Joe Rogan he was ready for a title shot. Although Pettis was promised a shot at the 155-pound title by UFC president Dana White had he emerged from this fight victorious, the same pledge was never made to Guida.
Those who believe Guida deserves a title shot point to his recent four-fight win streak. They forget just who he has fought during those four victories.
Shannon Gugerty? A guy who has a sub-.500 record (2-3) in the UFC, and someone who only diehard fans have heard of. Yes, Guida did win the “Submission of the Night” award for his arm-triangle victory, but Gugerty is nothing special.
Rafael Dos Anjos? Another guy with a .500 record in the UFC (3-3). Although Guida looked fantastic in breaking Dos Anjos’ jaw in this fight, it’s not like the Brazilian is one of the best in the division.
Takanori Gomi? Aside from delivering a flash knockout to Tyson Griffin last summer, Gomi has looked nothing like the fighter who ran through PRIDE in his other octagon battles, losing by submission to Guida and Kenny Florian.
Don’t forget that before this recent streak Guida lost two fights in a row, a barn-burner to Diego Sanchez and a choke-out loss to the aforementioned Florian.
Even with his victory last night, Guida still only holds a 9-5 record in the UFC. And although his move to Greg Jackson’s camp has clearly rejuvenated his career, one cannot forget his overall body of work in the Octagon when considering how worthy he is of a title shot.
Guida is definitely an exciting fighter. He pushes an unrelenting pace through his fights, has some of the best cardio in the sport, sports a cast-iron chin, and has a likeable and unique personality. He’s fun to watch and root for.
To fight for the UFC gold, however, requires a sustained body of excellence, and Guida hasn’t demonstrated this just yet. If four wins in the span of a year earns one a title shot, like proponents of Guida believe, then what about Melvin Guillard?
Like Guida, Guillard has won four in a row and like Guida, Guillard’s fights are exciting to watch. He has also been in the UFC for what seems like forever, and even has a similar UFC record to Guida at 10-4. But you don’t hear fans clamoring for Guillard’s title shot.
Of course, there’s Jim Miller, he sports a 9-1 record inside the UFC including a current seven-fight win streak. It just doesn’t make sense for Guida to get a crack at the gold before Miller, especially considering Miller’s only two career losses have come at the hands of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the top two guys in the division.
The easiest thing to do is to pull Miller from his fight with Ben Henderson and set up a No. 1 contender showdown between he and Guida. Both of these guys are on the cusp of stardom but really need a victory over a consensus top-10 lightweight to firmly entrench their place in the division.
With Edgar and Maynard hopefully culminating their trilogy in the fall, the timing is right to hold a late-summer/fall tilt between Miller and Guida to determine who gets the next crack at the belt. The winner of that fight would without question be deserving of fighting for UFC gold.
Defeating Pettis is no doubt a massive feather in Guida’s cap. But it’s not enough for him to get a title shot, at least not just yet.
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsClay Guida defeated former No. 1 contender Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision at Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale, but according to UFC president Dana White, the dominant win didn’t help “The Carpenter” secure a li…
White told MMA Fighting on Saturday that Jim Miller “is still ahead of [Guida]” in the organization’s lightweight rankings despite Guida’s win on Saturday night.
Miller (20-2) has won his last seven fights in a row. He is scheduled to meet Ben Henderson at UFC on Versus 5 on Aug. 14 in Milwaukee.
Current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was scheduled to defend his title against Gray Maynard at last week’s UFC 130, but injuries suffered by both fighters forced the bout to be canceled. It has yet to be rescheduled, but White said last week that he hopes to rebook it in the fall.
Miller’s only two losses have come against Maynard and Edgar. The AMA Fight Club member lost to Maynard at UFC 96 in March 2009 and dropped a unanimous decision to Edgar at Reality Fighting 14 in November 2006.
When the lights dim and the cameras roll on June 4, the MMA world will watch in unison as two of the most exciting lightweights do battle.
Ladies and gentleman, it’s showtime.
Former WEC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis will make his anti…
When the lights dim and the cameras roll on June 4, the MMA world will watch in unison as two of the most exciting lightweights do battle.
Ladies and gentleman, it’s showtime.
Former WEC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis will make his anticipated UFC debut in the main event of Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale card.
He’ll step right into the fire on the big stage against fan favorite and MMA wildman Clay Guida.
Those unfamiliar with Pettis are definitely in for a treat. He is one of the most creative strikers in the world, who seemingly has an affinity for pulling out insane highlight reel maneuvers.
Fans are still drooling over Pettis’ Matrix-like kick in his WEC championship bout against Ben Henderson. Along with making ESPN’s Sportscenter Top Ten, Pettis generated a massive following with his performance.
He was set to challenge the UFC lightweight champion in his debut, but with the January 2010 title bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard ending in a draw, a monkey wrench was thrown into the UFC’s plans for the rising young star.
Instead of waiting around for Edgar and Maynard, Pettis decided to take an extremely risky bout against Guida.
Some fans were upset about the possibility of Pettis missing out on a promised title shot.
An example of a similar situation is UFC featherweight Josh Grispi, who was originally scheduled to be the first to challenge Jose Aldo for his newly-acquired UFC title.
After an injury forced Aldo to pull out of the January bout, Grispi decided to take a fight against Dustin Poirier and ended up blowing his featherweight title shot.
As for Pettis, he made a great decision in taking the bout against Guida. The rematch for Edgar and Maynard was set for UFC 130, but both lightweights have been sidelined with injuries.
If Pettis waited around for the title shot, he could’ve been out of action for at least a year.
Recently, there have been questions surrounding Pettis’ position in the lightweight division. With a division full of guys like Gilbert Melendez, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard, the title picture can become clouded with uncertainty at times.
UFC President Dana White has already stated that Edgar versus Maynard is still on deck, and if Pettis gets past Guida, he remains at the forefront of the lightweight herd.
“It’s Pettis,” White said according to MMAWeekly when asked about the next person in line for a lightweight title shot.
June will be a big month for MMA, and a bout between Pettis and Guida is a hell of a way to get things started.
Since MMA’s inception, the general concept of family has been an integral part of a sport that is often billed as individualistic. Now more than ever the sport has seen family competition, with fathers training sons, brothers fighting on the same cards…
Since MMA‘s inception, the general concept of family has been an integral part of a sport that is often billed as individualistic.
Now more than ever the sport has seen family competition, with fathers training sons, brothers fighting on the same cards, and overall family camaraderie on high display.
The Gracie family popularized the idea of one style being better than another, with numerous fighters and families have tried to disprove the Gracie theory, with not very many proving successful.
Take Royce Gracie for example at UFC 1. After his impressive wins over Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, and Gerard Gordeau, Gracie realized his family’s true purpose: proving his family’s style was the best in the world. Surely a better feeling than any belt or dollar can give a fighter.
Flash forward to UFC 128 in New Jersey. Dan and Jim Miller of Sparta, N.J., fight in front of their hometown crowd at the Prudential Center. Though Dan lost and Jim won, nothing will take away the experience the brothers had that night.
And so, brotherly love has been redefined in and outside of the octagon. However, one question remaining is which brotherly duo is the best MMA has to offer?
In the world of mixed martial arts, the hype machine can be an extremely frustrating thing to a fighter.Some fighters are hyped up too quickly for their game to keep up and that can lead to undeserved fights, endorsements, and all around fan popularity…
In the world of mixed martial arts, the hype machine can be an extremely frustrating thing to a fighter.
Some fighters are hyped up too quickly for their game to keep up and that can lead to undeserved fights, endorsements, and all around fan popularity.
On the other side of the hype coin there are many fighters in this business who’s discipline, blood, sweat and tears seems to go unnoticed no matter what they have done or continue to do when the cage door closes.
It is sometimes a tough pill for a professional fighter to swallow, when they get bypassed and overlooked by the powers that be, for the up and coming, fresh, largely unproven newcomer.
As a shout-out to all those fighters who have sat in the emergency room for hours getting stitched up, while the others jet to the nearest post-fight party, here are the eight most underappreciated fighters of all time.
Clay Guida