Issue 135
December 2015
Whether he’s victorious or not, when Clay "The Carpenter" Guida is in the mix, the fans always win. Here, he shares five of his favorite fights.
1. Making his name – Josh Thomson, Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie (03/10/06)
The Carpenter walked into enemy territory on the debut Strikeforce card, but showed off his trademark relentless ground ’n’ pound to beat hometown hero Thomson in five grueling rounds.
“This fight put me on the map,” Guida recalls. “I was brought out to San Jose as a tomato can. But for five rounds we just battled. At the end there was just my two cousins cheering for me and like 16,000 booing. It was cool.”
2. All-action man – Tyson Griffin, UFC 72 (06/16/07)
The fans in Belfast, Northern Ireland, booed as Bruce Buffer announced the judges’ decision in favor of Griffin, as Guida had done enough to win the final two rounds – and the fight. But even though his name ended up in the ‘L’ column, he’d started to make his name as one of the UFC’s best action fighters.
“At the time, I didn’t even know how to kickbox or strike properly, but we went at it, man,” Guida says. “I was throwing high kicks at him, and he kicked me in the head. It was just totally cool. It kind of saved the entire card in Ireland, too. I lost the fight on points, but we got the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. That defeat was huge for my career.”
3. Major league player – Justin James, UFC 64 (10/14/06)
After winning 20 fights in less than two and a half years, the big show came calling for the 24-year-old Guida, though his first UFC fight was far from plain sailing. He had to survive a tight armbar in the first round, but persevered and battled back to finish the fight.
“I’ll never forget it. It was a special night and wow, to think it was almost 10 years ago, man that’s crazy. I remember I got ‘Submission of the Night’ too for a rear naked choke at the end of the second round in Las Vegas. Perfect.”
4. If you want blood... – Roger Huerta, The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 Finale (08/12/07)
With Clay Guida entertainment comes first. “This was another loss actually, but it was a fun fight and one the fans enjoyed too,” he says. “And that’s what matters most. Don’t get me wrong, I hate losing. It eats away at me. But this is an entertainment business. It was another ‘Fight of the Night.’”
Few imagined this main event fight would be anything less than a thrill-a-minute, but no one could have imagined how incredible the pace set would be during a back-and-forth 11 minutes. It was one of 2007’s standout fights.
5. Fight of the Year classic – Diego Sanchez, The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Finale (20/06/09)
It would appear impossible to top the action of the Huerta fight, but just 18 months later, ‘The Carpenter’ and ‘Nightmare’ put on a war for the ages. Jaws dropped as 15 minutes of relentless MMA action played out in the Octagon. The decision went in Sanchez’s favor by a razor-thin margin, but both men were winners at the end of the year.
Guida says: “My final pick is another loss. Damn! But how was this matchup ever going to be anything but awesome? Two guys, no backwards steps and a crazy crowd. We won ‘Fight of the Night’ and also ‘Fight of the Year’ at the World MMA Awards.
“I lost again on a split decision but I still look back with a smile on my face at a job well done. Me and Diego brought it that night.”
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