UFC on FX 4: Clay Guida says he "felt good" about performance against Gray Maynard

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Clay Guida doesn't seem to know what all the fuss is about regarding his performance against Gray Maynard on Friday night at UFC on FX 4. Despite the Atlantic City crowd turning on him during the fight for literally running away from Gray Maynard at times, as well as UFC President Dana White ripping into the performance after the fight, Guida was sure he was close to winning.

In fact, he said he could think of only one thing that he could have used: even more movement.

"I think a little more movement and if I would've landed a few more strikes, I would've gotten the nod," Guida said at the post-fight press conference. "We stuck to the game plan. We were unpredictable."

Indeed, Guida said avoiding Maynard was key to being in there for five rounds, and he felt his ability to do that was on point, making him happy with how he performed in the cage.

"He's a big, heavy puncher," Guida said of Maynard. "The guy hits hard. The guy punches holes in walls for practice, I'm sure, and I didn't want my head to be one of those. I thought we stuck to the game plan, we kept him guessing, we ran him out. He was swinging for the fences, and we weren't there... I felt good about my performance."

Guida may be the only one who did, and the loss added on top of the poorly received performance is sure to drive him down the ladder.

Penick's Analysis: This is a complete lack of self-awareness on Guida's part. To feel good about what he brought into the cage on Friday night is insane, because not only did he lose, he drew the ire of every fan in attendance and most watching at home. Avoiding punishment is fine as a strategy, no one wants to find themselves knocked out in a fight. However, what Guida forgot is that there's another part of the fight game, i.e., the fighting part. His complete lack of engagement in the first two rounds, along with the literal running away from Maynard down the stretch were asinine, and in no way a gameplan conducive to success. As I wrote earlier, this is the type of thing he typically does in his fights, but he also engages more offensively more often than not, or goads his opponent into something stupid. He almost did that with Maynard, as Maynard let Guida hit him flush with his hands down, but it was still just an awful, awful performance out of Guida.

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