Guida upsets Pettis!

Las Vegas- Anthony “Showtime” Pettis has been riding the celebrity train the last six months, leading up to his UFC debut against Clay “The Carpenter” Guida. In December of 2010, Anthony Pettis cemented himself in the MMA highlight reel hall of fame, when a flying spin kick off the cage landed right on the chin of his opponent. This move seemingly straight out of the movie The Matrix made Anthony pettis a instant star, appearing on ESPN’s first take and sports publications through out the state.

Fans and experts alike were already talking about Pettis as a favorite against the winner of ray Maynard and Light Weight champion Frankie Edgar, later in the year. Some fans, coming into tonight’s fight, where anxious to see what acrobatic finish Pettis would perform on Guida, whose aggressive style seemed tailor made for Pettis.

Guida kept Pettis on the ground the Majority of the fight

Those fifteen minutes were nothing of the sort as clay Guida manhandled Anthony Pettis on route to a unanimous decision. Anthony came out strong, trying to finish Guida, quickly, but as soon as Anthony was in range, Guida would shoot and take Pettis to the ground. Once on the ground, Guida would proceed to use short sharp elbows in close.  Pettis would try for submission attempts, but Guida managed to escape each one.

In the final minutes of the fight, Pettis secured a rear naked choke but once again could not finish The Carpenter. The fans at the Palm Casino were in shock, many expecting to see the new breed of MMA fighter. But what we saw Saturday night was the essence of  MMA; no matter how good you are on your feet, if you can’t get off the ground, it means nothing.

For Guida, he is, once again, in line for a title shot but with the lightweight division being as stacked as it is, who knows when that shot will come. As for Pettis, he is still an exceptional talent and will have another opportunity to highlight his skills, but he must understand that from this point forward, fighters will look to take him to the ground as soon as the bell rings.  We will see what happens next time for Pettis but the night belonged to The Carpenter.