Ever-evolving Clay Guida uses time away to refocus, retool training regimen
Since losing a tough fight to Dennis Bermudez in July of last year, Clay Guida has not competed in the UFC. The popular featherweight healed, rested and also managed to fit in some travel and fun.
During the offseason, Guida has always been known to a) stay in shape, and b) enjoy himself in a very "The Dude" way.
We asked him how he's spent his down time since last fighting in the Octagon and he rattled off a bunch of relaxing items. "I went to a few music festivals in the Midwest, and I also got in the RV and saw some of my favorite bands," he told FOX Sports.
"I saw a great band called Pepper, and we also saw Sublime, and got to see some reggae shows. We just did a podcast with Pepper. They are good buddies of ours and big MMA fans. I visited my parents at their house in Florida and I took a little vacation in Key West, and visited Hawaii."
Of late, however, Guida has been busy at work preparing for his main card fight against Robbie Peralta in Fairfax, Virginia, on Saturday. Anyone who has trained with Guida can attest to the fact that he is never out-worked in the practice room.
But while he's been all business in preparation for the very tough and hard-hitting Peralta, Guida has also chosen his surroundings very carefully, with an eye toward surrounding himself with good vibes.
"Happy training, happy fight, man," he says.
Making a switch during this camp from New Mexico and Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn's gym to California has made Guida happy.
"It was just about getting more variety. California is all about healthy living, and that's what I love," he said. "I'm learning to surf, I'm skateboarding a lot, and I'm running by the beach. That type of stuff is more accessible out here, obviously, than back home in Illinois with the cold climate. So it's been nice to spend some time out here to train."
While surrounding himself with beauty and fun cross-training options by training in California, he's also gone out of his comfort zones in order to make himself a better fighter. During camp, Guida alternated his time between the Los Angeles area and Sacramento.
"I have a lot of buddies out there who have been training for awhile in Hermosa beach, like Christos Giagos who just won in the UFC, and John Robles, who fights in the RFA and who is probably a couple wins away from a contract with a bigger promotion. So I've gotten training at Systems Training Center down South, as well as Glendale Fighting Club. Then, I've headed up North to Sacramento to train with Team Alpha Male at Ultimate Fitness. [Urijah] Faber and [Chad] Mendes have been asking me to come out and train for years.
"I've just been mixing it up, adding a little sauce to the pan and mixing it all up. I'm trying new things to add to our tool belt."
Two-time featherweight world title challenger Chad Mendes headlines Saturday's UFC card and says that it has been a pleasure having Guida at Team Alpha Male. Mendes also brushed aside the notion that he and Guida were ever rivals, even though they fought one another in 2013.
"I absolutely love Clay," he tells us.
"Me and Clay were never rivals. We've been friends for awhile and so that kind of sucked going into the fight with each other. We've loved having him in the room. He's a great guy, super nice and a hard worker. That's the type of mentality and mindset we want."
Mendes also says that he's seen a great deal of improvement in Guida's game, lately, and that "The Carpenter" has upped the already high-level Team Alpha Male practices.
"Oh yeah, definitely," he gushes.
"He gets in those wrestling and grappling practices with me, Faber, TJ [Dillashaw], Joe [Benavidez], we get in groups of four and it's just crazy scrambling all over the mat. It's like, 'Holy [expletive].' Some people have told me that they'd pay to watch those practices. So, he's helped us and I've definitely also seen some big improvements in Clay's game."
Guida himself can't say enough good things about the team practices in Sacramento at Faber's gym. New surroundings, additional high-level teammates and skilled instruction helped the 33-year-old feel fresh again, and showed him ways that he can still improve.
"It's a great program," he says.
"Their MMA classes are second to none. Everything we've been doing, all the changes, it's just to help evolve. We've been training hard because we're still looking to do some big things."
