Clay Guida

By FCF Staff

Clay Guida will take on Thiago Tavares later today at UFC Fight Night 77, and it doesn’t sound like “The Carpenter” is planning to showcase his striking skills.

The featherweight contender has been tapped to fight Tavares, after working his way to a unanimous decision win over Robbie Peralta in April. Recently the seemingly tireless wrestler spoke to UFC.com , and while doing so, Guida had this to say about his combat roots:

“That’s the grinder, that’s the wrestling, and that’s where I was brought up in the Midwest, learning that hard-nosed, in your face, make the wrestling match ugly style,” Guida said. “That’s what we did in the last fight (an April win over Robbie Peralta), and that’s what you’re going to see. We’re back to that. Nothing pretty. We’ve added a couple of things and I’ve gotten rid of a couple of things in my fighting style, and we’re going back to nothing pretty but hair in your face and punches in your face and putting you on your back. That’s what people like, that’s what helped me be victorious and get on top of these guys and get me toward the top of the lightweight division, and I believe it will be the same thing that can get me into title contention in the 145-pound division.”

Guida (32-15) has gone 3-2 in his last 5 fights, while Tavares (19-6-1) is coming off a stoppage loss to Brian Ortega, and is also 3-2 in his last 5 scraps.

UFC FN 77 will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and will feature a middleweight fight between Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson.