Caveman Clay versus Wildman Diego will be great fun
Published by Zach Arnold on June 20th, 2009 in Current Events

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Two of MMA’s most unique, intriguing personalities are set to do battle this Saturday night in Las Vegas. Clay “The Carpenter” Guida takes on Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez in a Spike TV main event that is bound to be a fascinating tactical fight to watch.

It’s also a fight that features two really strong personalities that make the sport of MMA so fun to follow.

Clay Guida is a good, perhaps not great Lightweight fighter. He wins the fights you expect him to win , but losses against upper echelon fighters (like your Roger Huertas and Tyson Griffins of the world). Of course, he disagrees with my assessment.

“Every fight I’ve had against a big name I’ve performed, I’ve come up to the (level of) competition. Like I’ve said, I’m an underdog in every one of my fights and I come out and I surprise the crowd, I surprise the competitor, and Diego’s going to be no different.”

Nevertheless, Clay’s fight style is unique — he loves to scramble and mix things up. Try to take him down in a fight and see what happens.

“No one’s pushed me around the cage, no one’s had their way with me.”

“If you want to try to outwrestle me, go for it. Try to take me down. No one’s held me down. Bring whatever you got, Diego, I’m ready.”

One of the things that makes Clay such a unique personality is that he’s humble, he’s respectful, but he’s not afraid of anything or anyone. He is a wildman and as UFC commentator Joe Rogan puts it, Clay Guida gives his opponents absolutely no oxygen whatsoever in a fight. His fight style is suffocating. There have been plenty of critics of Guida’s who accuse him of lay and pray… including Diego Sanchez.

“Diego thinks I’m going to lay on him and try to hold on for a decison? He’s terribly confused because when I drop an elbow across his forehead and I get my hand raised, he’s going to be like, alright, Clay just beat me, back to the drawing board.”

Call Clay overconfident if you want, but understand that he generally backs up what he says based on his performances in the UFC cage. Clay believes that his fight style can exploit Diego’s weaknesses. Recently, Clay studied film of Diego’s most recent fights. His assessment of his opponent?

“Diego looked like a robot in his last fight. If he thinks he was tired in that fight, wait until I come after him like a fireball. He wants to come and run at me? Go for it. I’m going to put him right on his butt.”

Guida’s comments have set off the ticking timebomb that is Sanchez. Sanchez has made a fool out of himself before in terms of getting overly intense and angry at his opponents. Some fighters need to manufacture a chip on their shoulder and others are just crazy. Nobody’s really sure which category Diego falls into. At Friday’s weigh-ins, Sanchez was ready to explode and was borderline hysterical. For the veteran Guida, nothing like this phases him.

“Diego’s big on a lot of pre-fight hype, you know, getting in your face, a lot of staredowns, you know, at the weigh-ins, stuff like that, I’ve seen all that. You know, he wants to talk? I talk with my fists, they speak volumes. Bring it, man. I’m ready for whatever you got.”

Guida’s often been accused of Chris Lytle syndrome, which is becoming a fighter who fights not to get the win but to win Fight of the Night bonuses. Clay calls this assertion nonsense.

“To me, I’m out here for wins. I’m out here to get that title belt. I’m here for the long haul. I’m here to be the UFC champion. People to look at and for a long time say Clay Guida was one of the best, is the best UFC fighter in the world. The money comes. We naturally put on exciting fights, so I’m not worrying about the bonuses. They just happen to come, they’re nice, they’re awesome, they help out a lot. I’m here for W’s, man, that’s what it’s about.”

The fight is huge for both Guida and Sanchez. If Diego wins, he likely will receive a title shot between the winner of BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian (which takes place August 8th in Philadelphia). If Guida wins, it throws a big monkey wrench into the future matchmaking for the Lightweight division. There’s a lot at stake right now and both men know it. Guida is especially aware of what is at stake right now, given that Penn is the current Lightweight champion and the division is stacked full of potential #1 challengers.

“BJ is one of the most talented fighters, hands down. He’s got all the tools, his heart has been his question, his conditioning, tenacity, that’s simple to see. The BJ that shows up at 155 in the past year has been amazing. He dismantled Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Jens Pulver, we’ve seen him pick guys apart in the UFC. When he goes up to 170, he doesn’t show up. He wasn’t even there against Georges St. Pierre. I was hoping for the best fight in UFC in a long time and we didn’t get that. Hopefully he won’t let himself down or let the fans down against Kenny Florian because that’s the best Kenny we’ve ever seen, dominating all opponents, he’s submitting people early in the fights you know, guy he fought for the title, he demolished Joe Stevenson very quickly, he’s one of the best grapplers out there, his striking’s awesome, he’s tall, great shape, and he’s not going to lay down against BJ like many people have. So, we’ll see which one shows up, but we’re coming for him and we’re coming for everybody. That’s all I’m looking for, to get another win to get into that title picture.”

Sanchez is the favorite going into the fight. If he can keep the fight standing and avoid takedowns, he should win. Understand that Diego is super slick on the mat and can work for all sorts of submissions. However, Guida has the power edge and will be more than comfortable fighting a mat war if need be.

Sanchez is continuing his war of words against Caveman Clay, but Guida is focused and ready to take on one of his toughest tests to date in UFC.

“I have the utmost respect for all of my opponents. If I upset him, then so be it man. No bad intentions, I’m out here to win this fight at all costs. Decision, submission, whatever it is. I’m coming at him 110% like nothing he’s never seen, nothing Josh Koscheck or Jon Fitch has ever brought. He’s not going to see just the ferocity that I have in my hands now, takedowns are better than it’s ever been takedown defense, my ground game is better than it’s ever been, we’re ready to weather the storm and get my hand raised at whatever the cost.”

“I don’t take pot shots at any of my opponents. I respect them 110% and nothing personal, buddy, I’m going to punch you in the face a few times and it’s probably not going to feel so good.”