Maynard wins split decision over Guida
Published on June 23 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern
By Brian Edwards
In a main event fight that left the crowd pissed and UFC President Dana White utterly disgusted, Gray ‘The Bully’ Maynard won a split decision over Clay ‘The Carpenter’ Guida in a crucial battle in the lightweight division. The judges had it 48-47 twice for Maynard and 48-47 for Guida.
BrianEdwardsSports scored it 48-47 for Maynard.
On twitter and at the postfight presser, White said, “That fight sucked.”
Guida won the first two rounds by dictating the pace, landing a few jabs and staying out of harm’s way for the most part. He bloodied Maynard’s nose with a solid jab one minute into the bout. Guida also connected with a nice head kick late in the second stanza.
But in the third round, Guida ruined any momentum he had by basically running from Maynard. Guida would dance and circle and then dance and circle some more. He rarely threw punches, though.
It was essentially the same gameplan Greg Jackson devised for Carlos Condit in his upset win over Nick Diaz, but Condit was constantly kicking and striking as he moved in and out. Guida wasn’t nearly as aggressive.
Maynard stalked Guida and chased him around the Octagon in the final three rounds. Maynard inflicted most of his damage late in the fourth round when Guida finally engaged and Maynard landed several big knees.
Then when Guida went back to dancing, Maynard dropped his hands to initiate the action and said, “C’mon bitch!” In other words, Maynard wanted to fight so bad that he was giving Guida the chance to punch him in the face if that would get the fight going.
Guida obliged and landed a powerful right, but Maynard walked right through it. Guida threw two more punches that grazed Maynard’s face and then Guida went for a takedown that got stuffed.
After sprawling to deny the takedown, Maynard was able to lock in a tight guillotine choke that appeared as if it might finish the fight. However, Guida slipped out after posturing up and slamming Maynard twice.
The fifth and final round was more of the same. Maynard chased and Guida ran but with clear Octagon control, Maynard won the round on our scorecard and two of three judges’.
White added that a few fans tweeted him that Guida was using great footwork. His response to that: “This isn’t fucking Dancing with the Stars.”
