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Matchup Looks Good to Guida |
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Written by Elias Cepeda of InsideFighting.com
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Thursday, 06 December 2007 |
 There was a time when Clay Guida, a lightweight mixed martial arts fighter out of Northern Illinois, didn't know if he would ever get a call up to the "big leagues" of the sport; the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). When Guida did get his chance, a fight at UFC 64 against Justin James, he took the opportunity seriously and came out with a second-round TKO win.
Since that fight back in October 2006, Guida has fought three more times in the UFC, including back to back controversial decision losses to two of the division's best; Din Thomas and Tyson Griffin, and a decisive decision victory of his own against top five global lightweight Marcus Aurelio this past August. Guida has seemed to improve and supersede outside expectations with each subsequent fight and leave many wondering how the undersized scrapper gets it done.
But Guida isn't surprised at all by his success and says he owes it all to hard work and smart training. "Once we got (the call to fight in the UFC), we pulled out all the stops and I really believe one hundred percent that I've turned a corner with my training," says Guida a week before he'll leave Illinois for Las Vegas and a main event engagement with Roger Huerta on the Dec. 8 Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale card, televised on Spike TV.
In order to rise to the task of being a UFC headliner, the Gilbert Grappling team member Guida has integrated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai training at the Midwest Training Center as well as intense physical conditioning work at the Institute for Human Performance. Guida says his training has come a long way from when he and his teammates used to simply beat on one another for hours on end.
Guida has picked up "a lot of the technical things" and learned that top tier training is not only about "going into the gym and beating the hell out of each other for one and a half hours just to break a sweat. It's about kicking it back a gear or two, soaking it up and learning so that you can shine in the cage where it matters."
The cumulative effect of Guida's improved training has been an increase in what was already impressive conditioning. "I've really begun to feel it in the last month. My conditioning, strength and power are improving and all my teammates have seen that. They are telling me, ‘You are freaking strong'," says Guida.
Guida hopes that his strength will play a big role in successfully fighting Huerta, who is undefeated in five fights in the UFC. Even though Huerta sports the more nearly flawless career record and is more recognizable to fans thanks to magazine covers and television spots, Guida believes he matches up very nicely with the fighter out of Minnesota.
"I don't think he will be able to stop my takedowns," says Guida, who is known for his wrestling ability. "He fought Doug Evans who has good wrestling but he doesn't have half the wrestling I do."
In the fight with Evans Huerta found himself in trouble early after being taken down and giving up his back. To his credit, Huerta survived and went on to score a stoppage victory. But Guida believes he'll give Huerta even more trouble than just in the wrestling category of the fight.
"I believe I will be able to take him down but I will stand and throw until he makes a mistake. My takedowns come off of punches. Roger has a really wide stance and keeps his left leg forward quite a bit which leads into my takedowns," assesses Guida.
It's clear that Guida and his team have been dissecting Huerta's game carefully. It's also evident that they like what they see. Guida seems to believe he'll hold the better hand against Huerta in just about every aspect of the match up.
Taking an opponent down is one thing but keeping him down long enough to do damage, especially one like the hard scrambling and athletic Huerta, is another. Guida has no illusions of things being easy against Huerta, but he's confident that eventually he'll grind him down and achieve the desired result.
"Definitely," responds Guida when asked if he'll be able to hold Huerta down and control him.
"It may not be that way from the beginning but once I start wearing him down I'll hold him there as long as I want. I've held better fighters down I believe. He's an athlete and he and I scramble a lot so it's also a timing matter," says Guida.
And despite the fact that Huerta has shown himself to be an aggressive striker, Guida believes he'll hold the technical advantage while on the feet.
"Definitely. You can see a lot of his punches are hooks and looping punches. They are never straight down the middle. He also doesn't have a lot of coverage. He doesn't really throw leg kicks. He throws head kicks and body shots and yeah, that's great. That's him bringing the takedown on himself," Guida says.
And lastly, Guida believes having faced seemingly tougher competition in the UFC than Huerta lends him an experience advantage. All of Huerta's opponents in the UFC have faced him in their organization debut while Guida has faced the likes of Aurelio, Thomas and Griffin, each an experienced top level competitor.
The result? Guida is certain that he will have more answers as the fight with Huerta goes on and gets increasingly difficult.
"In the later rounds, when he's looking for a way out I'm going to give him a way out." |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 07 December 2007 )
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