Stepping into the Octagon for the fifth time on Dec. 8, Clay Guida will get his first opportunity to headline an event as he faces Roger Huerta in the main event of the upcoming “Ultimate Fighter” finale show in Las Vegas.

This will not be the first time Guida has been in a marquee fight, having faced hometown favorite Josh Thomson at Strikeforce in 2006 in front of one of the largest crowds in mixed martial arts history.

“It’s awesome,” he said about his main event fight. “I can’t put it into words. It’s an honor to be a part of the best organization … in the world right now, the most talent I think, with their acquisition of Pride and the WEC as well, and I’m glad to be the focus of the main event.”

Since debuting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship last year, Guida has faced some of the toughest fighters in the lightweight division prompting many people to ask what he did to deserve the stiff competition every fight out.

“I think when they saw me, they saw a different breed,” said the 25-year-old. “It’s very respectful of them to give me top competitors and they know I step up to it. I believe I fight up to top competition and some times I don’t perform as well when I’m fighting sometimes ‘B-class’ fighters.”

In his upcoming bout, Guida faces a fighter that has used his cardio and conditioning in almost every one if his bouts to outwork his opponent.

Guida doesn’t think Huerta himself has been pressured yet.

“He hasn’t been pushed in a fight like I’m going to push him,” he stated. “I’m going to take the line and bring him into the ocean with the sharks. Drag him into the water; drag him into the deep water. See what it’s like to have the pressure put on him and we’ll see how he reacts.”

Huerta has used his own brand of pressure to keep the pace high in all of his UFC fights, but Guida feels it will be his decision where this fight goes.

“I dictate where the fight goes in my fights,” he stated emphatically. “I’m going to continue to do the same in this one. It’s my night. Dec. 8 is my day. I’m turning 26 on the eighth and I’m going to turn 22 victories on the eighth as well.”

A win over Huerta would definitely propel Guida to an even higher contender’s status in the lightweight division, but the Chicago-based fighter is just concentrating on winning now and worrying about the other stuff later.

“Any win is just as important as my first UFC win,” he stated about the fight with Huerta. “You can’t overlook anybody, and winning in good fashion makes that much more of a difference, but at the same sense, beating a guy that’s 5-0 looks pretty good on paper too, and I’m just going to go out there and fight my fight and what happens, happens.”

In a recent fight with Doug Evans at the season five “Ultimate Fighter Finale” in June, Huerta struggled out of the gate in the first round before getting the win in the second session.

A slow start from his opponent is exactly what Guida is hoping for.

“I’m not warming up in the first round like a lot of fighters,” he said. “I’m ready to jump through the roof of the stadium.”

Ultimately, many are expecting this bout to be “fight of the night” or even “fight of the year,” and Guida whole-heartedly agrees.

“Expect fireworks, expect the 4th of July on Dec. 8,” Guida stated. “Candidate for fight of the year written all over it, we’re going to cap off 2007 in fine form.”