Clay Guida

Scouting report

Clay Guida wrestled at Johnsburg High School and Harper College at 149 pounds. He won the first Strikeforce lightweight title by beating Josh Thomson in San Jose on March 10, 2006 and lost it to Gilbert Melendez three months later. He joined the UFC after a WEC decision over Joe Martin and won at UFC 64 on October 14, 2006. Across 37 UFC fights he went 18-19, with six Fight of the Night awards. He beat Nate Diaz on a split decision at UFC 94 and Anthony Pettis on a unanimous decision at the TUF 13 Finale.

Peak ratings

Clay Guida: a Chicago-area wrestler who fought everyone in the division

He lost his first pro fight in summer 2003, then won 15 straight before a loss to Tristan Yunker in King of the Cage in February 2006. In the UFC he trained with Midwest Training Center, then Jackson-Wink from 2009. He beat Justin James by rear-naked choke at UFC 64, Takanori Gomi by guillotine at UFC 125 on January 1, 2011 and Shannon Gugerty by arm-triangle in March 2010, each a Submission of the Night. The UFC released him on January 16, 2025.

Guida, one rating at a time

Cardio at 96 and three Submission of the Night awards

The submissions came against James, Gugerty and Gomi, and a Performance of the Night against Leonardo Santos in December 2021. Henderson beat him over three rounds at UFC on Fox 1 in November 2011, and he lost another close fight to Gray Maynard in June 2012.

Kickboxing at 72 and the losses at the end

Din Thomas, Griffin, Huerta, Sanchez and Florian all beat him early, and Gray Maynard won a split decision at UFC on FX 4. His late losses include Bobby Green, Mark Madsen, Claudio Puelles, Rafa Garcia and Joaquim Silva, and Chase Hooper armbarred him at UFC 310 in December 2024, his last UFC fight. Put a striker in another slot.

Scouting report

Clay Guida fought at 145 pounds from 2013 to 2016, starting with a split decision over Hatsu Hioki at UFC on Fox 6 in Chicago on January 26, 2013. Chad Mendes stopped him with punches at 0:30 of round three at UFC 164 on August 31, 2013, and Brian Ortega knocked him out with a knee at UFC 199 on June 4, 2016. He trained at Jackson-Wink until 2015 and then with Team Alpha Male.

Peak ratings

Clay Guida at 145: the same pace against smaller men

At featherweight he beat Tatsuya Kawajiri on a unanimous decision in Abu Dhabi on April 11, 2014 and Robbie Peralta on a unanimous decision in Fairfax on April 4, 2015. Dennis Bermudez choked him at 2:57 of round two at UFC on Fox 12 in July 2014, and Thiago Tavares caught a guillotine in 39 seconds in Sao Paulo that November. He returned to lightweight in 2017.

Guida at featherweight, rating by rating

Cardio at 96 and the win over Hioki

Hioki, Kawajiri and Peralta all lost to his pace. At 145 pounds the same style produced a 3-4 UFC record, which is why this card is rated lower than his lightweight one. He ended his featherweight run in 2016.

Kickboxing at 70 and finishes against him

Mendes, Bermudez, Tavares and Ortega all finished him at featherweight. Two of those came in the first two rounds. A partner who can defend or counter makes the card safer.