Rivalries: Clay Guida

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Clay Guida approaches his 57th professional appearance with little left to prove.

A staple of the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division since 2006, Guida will face the unbeaten Mark O. Madsen in the UFC on ESPN 29 co-main event this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The 39-year-old Team Alpha Male rep has won four of his past seven bouts. Guida last competed at UFC Fight Night 184, where he laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 finalist Michael Johnson on Feb. 6.

As Guida prepares for his confrontation with Madsen, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career:

Roger Huerta

“El Matador” submitted Guida with a rear-naked choke in the third round of “The Ultimate Fighter 6” Finale main event on Dec. 8, 2007 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, affirming himself as a star on the rise in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Huerta brought it to a close 51 seconds into Round 3, drawing the curtain on one of the year’s most memorable encounters. It was an exercise in perseverance for both men, their battle marked by wild scrambles, positional shifts and toe-to-toe standup exchanges. However, Guida managed to neutralize the Dave Menne protégé for the better part of 10 minutes, as he utilized repeated takedowns, stifling top control and effective ground-and-pound. “The Carpenter” appeared to have victory in hand near the end of the second round, where he cracked a kneeling Huerta with a sweeping right hand, swooped into top position and battered him with punches. Momentum, however, proved fleeting. Huerta clipped the Chicago native with a well-timed knee inside the first 15 seconds of Round 3, pressured him with punches and sprawled out of an attempted takedown. He then wheeled onto Guida’s back, secured his position with hooks and cinched the choke to prompt an improbable tapout.

Nate Diaz

Guida outpointed “The Ultimate Fighter 5” winner to a split decision in a UFC 94 lightweight showcase on Jan. 31, 2009 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Nelson Hamilton and Roy Silbert for “The Carpenter,” Patricia Morse Jarman for Diaz. Guida’s resolve provided the difference. He completed four takedowns—one in the first round, another in the second and two more in the third—and outlanded Diaz through the first 10 minutes. Not one to go quietly, the Californian was at his best in Round 3. There, Diaz assaulted the former Strikeforce champion with accurate punches upstairs, zeroed in on the body with both hands and made his move. Diaz connected on 23 significant strikes over the final five minutes while absorbing only 10 in return. Nevertheless, his considerable efforts were not enough to avoid his first defeat in six appearances under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner.

Diego Sanchez

In what turned into one of the most unforgettable battles in UFC history, Sanchez notched a split decision against the shaggy Chicagoan in “The Ultimate Fighter 9” Finale headliner on June 20, 2009 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Scores were 29-27 (Glenn Trowbridge) and 29-28 (Hamilton) for Sanchez, 29-28 (Jarman) for Guida. Already on a short list of potential contenders for the UFC lightweight crown, Sanchez roared out of the gates. He dazed Guida with wicked, compact uppercuts against the cage and quickly established a foothold in the match. Later, Sanchez dropped his adversary with a head kick that would have left lesser men unconscious. “The Carpenter,” however, refused to wilt. The manic Guida bounced off the stool for Round 2 and employed a strategy that was far more effective. He took down Sanchez early and worked his ground-and-pound from top position. Guida ate some elbows to the top of his head for his troubles, but he kept “The Nightmare” pinned to the mat for much of the period. The third round was almost too close to call. They traded briefly before Guida scrambled into top position. Sanchez hunted a kimura and an armbar from the bottom, but the blood flowing from Guida’s nose, mouth and head made it virtually impossible to secure anything of consequence against the onetime Strikeforce titleholder. They finished in a stalemate, their fate left to the judges.

Anthony Pettis

Guida kept a frenetic pace, executed multiple takedowns and thwarted numerous submission attempts, as he spoiled the former World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion’s promotional debut with a unanimous decision in “The Ultimate Fighter 13” Finale co-feature on June 4, 2011 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. “The Carpenter” swept the scorecards with 30-27 nods from all three judges. Executing his game plan to near perfection, Guida closed the distance on the Roufusport star and either pinned him to the cage or planted him on his back. Pettis stayed active from the bottom, threatening with triangles and armbars, but none of them managed to ensnare Guida, who showed off sublime submission defense and never slowed down. Pettis had his chance late in the third round. After a failed takedown attempt from Guida, he scrambled into top position, secured full mount and forced the Chicagoan to surrender his back. Pettis searched as he punched, working to position himself for a rear-naked choke. The relentless Guida escaped, however, as he shook the Milwaukee native free. He then put a late exclamation point on his victory, as he pressed the downed Pettis against the cage and took back control, hooks in, at the horn.