| Reputation: 500+
Status: Contender Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Dobblemurk Posts: 842
|  Clay Guida Article from UFC.com
12/03/2007
Clay Guida – The Gamer
By Thomas Gerbasi
If you ran into Clay Guida on the street, ‘professional fighter’ probably wouldn’t be the
first thought that entered your brain, not with his slight build and the wild shoulder length mane that would probably be more in place at a club where local punk rockers Alkaline Trio (whose ‘Stupid Kid’ Guida enters the Octagon to) were holding court.
Then again, if you entered the gym in Tinley Park, Illinois to catch Guida at work, you still might wonder how the 25 year old whirling dervish has made it to a UFC main event against Roger Huerta on Saturday. Why? Well, this is one fighter who understands that the gym is for learning, not fighting, and if he’s not on the short end of the action at times, he’s not getting better.
“You’re supposed to get beat up in the gym,” said Guida. “If I was beating up on everybody, then I’d think I was in the wrong place. I do okay in the gym, but I really turn it on in the cage. It’s like a lot of quarterbacks; people say they’re gamers – they struggle in practice, but when the time is right and when there’s a sense of urgency, that’s when they shine.”
That strategy has worked like a charm so far in Guida’s four year career to the tune of 22 wins in 27 fights. It’s been his four fight stint in the UFC that has turned heads though, with his boundless energy making him ‘must see’ TV for fight fans. Of course, that always entertaining style doesn’t always translate to the three judges at Octagonside, and Guida has been on the short end of close decisions to Din Thomas and Tyson Griffin and almost saw a clear cut win over Marcus Aurelio get taken away with him when one judge inexplicably saw the Brazilian as the victor in the three round bout at UFC 74 in August. So getting a close verdict against a more visible fighter in Huerta has to be a concern, right?
“Those are things that I try not to think about,” he said. “Obviously, that’s in the back of my mind, but that’s where I’m gonna keep it and hopefully end this fight early. I train to finish fights and try to not leave it in anyone else’s hands but mine.”
A sense of urgency to finish can lead to mistakes though, something Guida is well aware of.
“With the fight game, whatever happens in the cage happens,” he said. “You can’t rush things because that’s when you can get caught or you make a mistake. If you see a guy hurt and you run in there too quick, you can make the wrong move. I think fighting my fight is urgency enough. If I do that, I’ll come out on top.”
And given that Guida is neither a one-punch knockout artist nor a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, his game is to outcondition you, outwork you, and then force you into a mistake that can lead to the submission or knockout. Along the way, there are no fans asking for their money back as Guida takes the fight from post to post in the Octagon. That leads to high expectations, but none higher than what the fighter has for himself.
“That’s just my style,” he said. “People just happen to see my fights as fun when they’re happening. I go out there to try to finish fights and they end up being whirlwind barnburners. I expect nothing less from myself then that when I leave the cage I’ve done everything I could. If that doesn’t happen, then I just get in the gym and hit it harder the next time.”
According to the native of Round Lake, Illinois, it’s just the way he’s always been.
“I grew up as the
ad
little guy on the football field,” he recalls. “My jersey hung down past my knees in pee wee football and Pop Warner ball. Even when I was a senior in high school, I was the small outside linebacker and cornerback, but I would always come up and people wouldn’t see me – next thing they knew, they were on their back. They knew who I was by the end of the game. In wrestling, I was always a fireball on the mat, and in baseball I was always stealing bases and getting base hits and was all over the ball on the infield. I’ve always taken competition to another level.”
Thankfully, his counterpart on Saturday night at The Palms in Las Vegas, Huerta, shares a similar philosophy, meaning that Guida – who turns 26 on the day of the fight – could be walking away with a Fight of The Night bonus if this bout lives up to the hype. That’s just fine with ‘The Carpenter’, who plans on getting away for some skiing after the fight before returning to Vegas on December 12th for the WEC show that night. But…
“First things first,” he laughs. “Fight first and fun afterwards. Well, it’s all business, but it’s also fun business.”
Business has been good for Clay Guida in 2007, and there would be no better way to end a memorable year than with the biggest win of his career. Either way though, he wants to send the fans home happy. For him, they’re one of the main reason he fights.
“I’ve always said that I don’t want to fight in front of nobody, because that’s pointless,” he explains. “This is a fans’ sport and it’s there for the masses. And when the people stop showing up, that’s when I’m gonna start not showing up either. I love this because I love putting myself on the next level and because I love putting a show on for people too.”
__________________
"I’m ready. It doesn’t matter with who or where. On foot or on horseback. With maces or poleaxes. To fight. To first blood or to death. It doesn’t matter, I’m ready to fight. "
-Aleksander Emelianenko
|
Linear Mode
