It appears that Anthony Pettis will not wait on the sidelines. Instead of waiting for a lightweight title shot, according to reports, he will take a fight against Clay Guida.

According to a report from Heavy.com, Pettis and Guida will face off some time this spring. The reports says that it will be at either UFC 130 or 131. UFC 130 takes place on May 28, while UFC 131 takes place June 11.

After winning the WEC title on the last-ever WEC show, Pettis earned a shot at the UFC lightweight title. He was supposed to face the winner of the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard fight at UFC 125. However, now UFC president Dana White has awarded Maynard an immediate rematch.

Pettis earned a shot at the WEC lightweight title after he went 4-1 in the promotion. He picked up wins over Shane Roller, Alex Karalexis and Danny Castillo. In his title fight, he picked up a hard-fought decision over Ben Henderson.

Fan-favorite Guida appears to have his career back on track. After dropping back-to-back fights against Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian, he has won three in a row. In his last fight, he scored a submission victory over former Pride FC lightweight champion Takanori Gomi.

Kenny Florian’s manager Maki Kawa also tweeted today that his charge would be interested in a bout with Pettis.

7 thoughts on “Report: Anthony Pettis will take bout against Clay Guida”
  1. I think this could be a huge mistake for Pettis. Someone like Florian would have made a lot more sense IMO because he’s higher ranked, and doesn’t have the wrestling to pin Pettis down for three rounds.

    Clay Guida by Dec.

  2. Really? We’re talking about a straight MMA context here where Guida has outwrestled Gomi, Josh Thomson, Tyson Griffin, and Diego Sanchez. All pretty good wrestlers. I never said he was on the level of Maynard, Edgar, Velasquez or anybody like that.

    Care to elaborate? Did you mean straight wrestling without MMA envolved?

  3. Do you mean Gomi who got out wrestled by Marcus Aurelio? Thomson who got out wrestled by JZ? Diego Sanchez would couldn’t take down John Alessio?

    Guida is an average wrestler. However, he mainly just pushes fighters up against the cage, which is something that Pettis has been able to deal with. On top of that, he does not have the ability to set up his takedowns. Everyone and their mother can usually take down Kenny Florian, but Guida did not even come close.

    Even if he does get on top, he does not really have any offense from the position and Pettis has an extremely active guard.

    Plus, the book on Pettis has always been that he struggles to stay on his feet. He has improved in this area. Taking this fight will force him to continue to work with Ben Askren and hone his craft.

  4. “Everyone and their mother can usually take dowwn Florian.”

    No not really true at all. Diego took him down quickly when both fought at 185. Sherk took him down at will when he was the best wrestler at 155 in MMA. Penn took him down after hurting him on the feet. Gray Maynard is the only other person who took him down easily, and controlled him.

    “Even if he does get on top, he does not really have any offense from the position and Pettis has an extremely active guard.”

    Guida set up the guillotine on Gomi from top position, and beat the crap out of Thomson there. He stopped Schaivo, and arm triangled gugerty too.

    “Do you mean Gomi who got out wrestled by Marcus Aurelio? Thomson who got out wrestled by JZ? Diego Sanchez would couldn’t take down John Alessio?”

    Well the only person that JZ hasn’t outwrestled in MMA is Kawajiri which isn’t that bad of a statement. Aurelio was at the top of his game when he tapped Gomi, and has done well against other wrestlers in spurts. Alessio trains with possibly the best camp in MMA for wrestling, and has never been that bad at wrestling anyway.

    I think I’m just gonna have to go with the ole agree to disagree.

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