Clay Guida: Lightweight Division: Interesting Little Debacle

Clay Guida has a lot on the line this Saturday night when he takes on Anthony Pettis on the TUF Finale.  He is on a 3 fight win streak and inching his way closer to a title shot.  But right now, the UFC LW division is stacked with lots of contenders on the cusp.  Add to that the fact that the champ, Frankie Edgar, and number 1 challenger Gray Maynard are both injured, and you have a muddled picture in the division.  On today's UFC conference call, Clay addressed this issue when asked about his expectations of a title shot if he beats Pettis:

I think a dominating victory on Saturday night will look better in the eyes of Dana White, Joe Silva and the UFC.  Like I said, Saturday night will tell the tale.  There's a couple guys up there.  Jim Miller's been on a tear but he's fighting one of Anthony's former opponents in Ben Henderson.  Anthony won that fight, so it's an interesting little debacle I guess in the lightweight division right now.  There's a lot of stuff going on and unfortunately they're going to be a little delayed with the injuries of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.  The most Anthony and I can do is go out and put on a great show, which is I know what we are exactly going to do.

Clay is known for his stamina, and he's ready to go 3 rounds or 5 rounds.  When asked about getting tired in a fight, he said:

I'm actually swimming a lot lately.  I'm down at the pool doing this interview.  Swimming--look at Michael Phelps, he's one of the best athletes in the world, so I've been kind of taking a liking to that.  As far as getting tired, getting tired is for old people.  There's no time in 15 minutes to get tired.  There's no time in 25 minutes to get tired.

The fight with Pettis is already being thought as of fight of the year material, because of the exciting style of both fighters.  As Guida told our own Kalin Johnston in an exclusive interview recently:

Oh man, you can’t get a more action-packed fighter than Anthony Pettis.  He does all sorts of crazy whirlwind stuff.  You get your bang for your buck when you watch him.  Us headlining The Ultimate Fighter Finale is a win/win for everybody.  The fans win the most, and I win the second most because I am going to get my hand raised.

This Saturday night you may have to remind yourself that it's June, not the fourth of July.  Expect fireworks.