Clay Guida - Bringing the Lightning Bolts on Saturday
Guida is under no illusions about what’s at stake when he steps into the Octagon at UFC 74 this Saturday night against PRIDE veteran Marcus Aurelio. But strangely enough, “The Carpenter” doesn’t feel pressure to even up his UFC record at 2-2 with a win; instead, he’s got that excited feeling that he’s just about to hit a hot streak.
“I’m like a batter going up there who’s 0 for 4 on the day in baseball, and I’m due,” chuckles Guida, who, unlike most fighters with a 1-2 record (he’s 21-5 overall in pro MMA), hasn’t whiffed at off-speed pitches in his losses. On the contrary, Guida’s hit screaming bombs that were robbed at the wall of being home runs.
Of course, when it comes down to dollars and cents, most don’t want to hear about razor-thin decision losses to Tyson Griffin and Din Thomas. They want to know the bottom line, so Guida, in taking care of his out of the ring business, has to put a little disclaimer and explanation by his record.
“It’s tough record-wise, and sometimes I think about sponsors, and when I’m e-mailing them or looking for them, I put “I’m currently 1-2 in the UFC, but if you look at my fights, they kinda speak for themselves,”” he explains. “And I’m sure once they do watch the fights, or if they’ve already seen them, they throw 1-2 right out the window.”
It’s frustrating in a way, but the UFC certainly hasn’t tossed the 25-year old Illinois native on the lightweight scrap heap.
“For me, it’s more frustrating to think I’ve had the chance to finish those fights (that he lost), but the UFC is definitely not treating me like a 1-2 fighter if you look at my four opponents, and I’m honored to be treated that way,” he said. “There are not many people who are given that opportunity to fight top ten guys fight after fight.”
Some would call that a curse, but not Guida, who has welcomed his bouts against the seasoned and dangerous vet in Thomas, the rising star in Griffin, and the ground wizard in Aurelio. And as a thank you, Guida has come out blazing in every fight thus far, and he doesn’t expect to slow down against Aurelio on Saturday.
“I want to keep the streak alive,” he said. “Most of my fights either end quickly in the first or second round, or otherwise, they’re all over the place, one corner of the cage to the next. I was actually surprised to hear boos before me and Tyson engaged (at UFC 72 in June), about the first 10 or 12 seconds. Then we started throwing punches and it was a mess from there on out.”
A beautiful mess at that, as Guida and Griffin went at it tooth and nail for three rounds in a bout that is without question a finalist for 2007 Fight of The Year. And while Griffin took the decision, there were no losers in this one, especially for fans of Guida, who puts out more energy in his walk to the Octagon than most fighters do in the fight.
“I kinda put pressure on myself almost, in that my teammates and my
brother tell me, ‘you have all this energy; I want to see you look like you just fought two title fights back to back. I don’t want to see you jumping around after the fight. Use all that energy and don’t save anything for the judges, don’t save anything for the next fight, leave it all out there,’” said Guida. “Sometimes I feel so good after a fight, and between rounds I wonder if I’m doing enough in that round. I’m bouncing around and I’m ready to go, but I wonder if sometimes that’s my downfall.”
Not so far, despite his record. And while you want to wish Guida well and hope to see him get a few wins under his belt, the fact remains that – like the now-retired Arturo Gatti in boxing – the end result doesn’t really matter as long as you get to see him fight. So what’s the secret to never being in a bad fight?
“There is no secret,” he admits. “I don’t think about it while I’m out there, and it’s mostly reaction and leaving it all out there. I think that’s what true athletes are made of, leaving everything in the ring, on the field, on the track, on the diamond, or wherever you’re at, and not holding anything back.”
That way of thinking has made Guida a favorite of MMA aficionados, and the feeling is mutual from the fighter to his fans.
“Fans are friends to me,” said Guida. “Even if I might not know them, they’re all friends because for them to come out there and cheer me on and take time out of their night to sit and watch a fight or put fifty bucks on their credit card or whatever it is, that’s a friend to me.”
Oh yeah, Guida’s a keeper. He just laughs.
“I’ve learned to keep a smile on your face, always be a gentleman, keep a positive attitude and good things are gonna come,” he said. “Those are the morals my parents taught me.”
Now all he has to do is get to .500 in the UFC with a win over Aurelio this weekend, and then he can start thinking of making the trek up the ranks towards a title shot.
“I definitely feel that people aren’t gonna talk about the lightweight division without my name popping up somewhere, whether it’s ‘oh, did you see that last fight,’ or ‘who’s the crazy kid with the crazy hair bouncing around?’” said Guida. “However they describe me, it doesn’t matter. In the future, I’m gonna find myself with my hand raised against Marcus Aurelio and after that, I’m gonna move on from there.”
And wherever Clay Guida goes, expect excitement to follow.
“There will be fireworks and lightning bolts coming out of that ring,” he laughs. “That’s all I can say. I know Marcus is gonna be ready for this fight, and he’s looking to get down, but it’s gonna be a war of attrition, just like a lot of these last fights have been, and the fans should expect nothing less than the last fight that I had, except that I’m sure it’s gonna be more electric.”
source: ufc.com
good article i thought id share it
__________________
HW: Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum
LHW: Tito Ortiz, Forrest Griffin, Rampage, Goran Reljic
MW: Patrick Cote, Gegard Mousasi, Jorge Santiago, Anderson Silva, Bisping, Amir Sadollah
WW: GSP, Chris Lytle, Carlos Condit
LW: Kenny Florian, KJ Noons, Gomi, Matt Wiman, Huerta
Last edited by pa99fighter; 08-24-2007 at 01:20 PM.
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