In a battle between two of the more senior members of the UFC roster, Clay Guida came out on top in dramatic fashion on Saturday night. ‘The Carpenter,’ who turns 40 in three days, survived an early onslaught from 41-year-old Leonardo Santos in round one of their UFC Vegas 44 fight and eventually snatched a rear-naked choke submission in round two.
It was Guida’s first submission win in nearly 11 years, for which he deservedly won a performance bonus. In his next assignment, he wants to run it back with one of the sport’s biggest stars today.
“We just want to stay on the gas pedal, stay active. And there’s still one dude out there with our name on him. I beat him once and I’ll give him another chance. Nate Diaz, I know you’re out there. You can’t run, you can’t hide,” Guida told MMA Junkie during the post-fight media scrum.
“I know you’re gonna turn the fight down. You probably won’t even know that we want to fight you again. But if you ever want to do it again, buddy, I’ll give you a shot at it. Let me know.”
Guida and Diaz already fought in 2009 at UFC 94, with the former winning via split decision. Both men, however, took home $65K bonuses for Fight of the Night honors.
Diaz is down to the last fight in his UFC contract and will likely face someone with a bigger name value. The 36-year-old veteran last saw action at UFC 263 in June against Leon Edwards and lost via decision.
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