Anthony Pettis set to fight Clay Guida, possibly at UFC 130
Posted on January 11, 2011, 06:09 AM by Anton GurevichAccording to Heavy.com (via MMAMania.com), WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony "Showtime" Pettis will return to Mixed Martial Arts this Spring, facing the relentless Clay Guida at UFC 130 or UFC 131. Pettis recently declared he's not willing to wait for Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar to solve their differences, making it clear that he wants to fight as soon as possible. Both fighters are currently enjoying an impressive winning streak, and are clearly considered as two of the most entertaining Mixed Martial Artists in the UFC Lightweight division.
But meanwhile, it looks like Clay Guida is not the only one in line for a fight against Pettis. Well-known MMA agent Malki Kawa revealed through his Twitter account that Kenny Florian would be more than happy to square off against Anthony Pettis. Here's Kawa's original Tweet (via BloodyElbow.com):
So what do you say, LowKick'ers, who should be next it line for Anthony Pettis? Should it be "The Carpenter" or "Ken-Flo"? Don't be shy to vocalize your thoughts in the comments section.
Comments
fight of da year candidate i dont even want to call a winner both fighters are class
I think it will be a easy win for Pettis....Guida is a good fighter but he usually falls short to beating top 10 LW's
the funniest thing i have heard all say pettis has fought no where near the competition that guida has. i would say guida would be the heavy favorite in this fight
this is a new guida. He is still very aggressive like before but now he has gotten really technical and follows the game plan which makes him very dangerous. I do not see this being one sided by any means
if pettis wins ill eat a ****
@Griffin
I think your right the Jackson camp has added a beat of intelligence to his game, not to mention he locking on subs better than ever
He's definitely gotten a lot better. I'd eventually like to see him rematch against Florian.
Stupid fight for pettis. Right now he is a title contention. If he has a bad showing or looses to Guida his title shot is done.
yeah because Guida style is not the best for Pettis !
he needs to stand and Show us a good time!
another Capoeira kick, spinning back kick or maybe the Showtime kick again!
Guida will be relentless just trying to take Pettis down
i see a lot of clinching in that fight if not most of the fight.
Besides as well know as Guida may be, his never been close to title contention while Pettis was already on line for the title.
Anthony Pettis vs Kenny Florian is by far the best fight at 155 besides from the Title Rematch of Frankie vs Maynard
so? if he beats clay then he def deserves a shot. Plus he doesnt want to sit around waiting for his shot he wants to fight. I can respect that. This is going to be a fun fight for sure cant wait.
if pettis losses to guida then he sure as hell wouldnt have been ready for edgar. The kid is 23 and just entering the UFC i think this will be a good test for him before he gets in there with the #1 LW in the world
Guida has turned himself into a complete fighter, however I think Pettis might be a little too much for him.
I think Pettis is too fast for Guida. He has always looked sloppy on his feet to me. If Guida wins does he get that shot?
Well, both fighters are dangerous and if Guida would win Pettis, he should be fighting for the title. For Kenny, win over Pettis would put him into a title mix with a win away from shot at the title. This is Kennys biggest chance to get to that title fight.
I love KenFlo but I think he really hurt his chances of ever getting another shot when he lost to Gray.
Plus, UFC 130 seems to be more stacked then 128.
I think I would rather see him fight Kenny but that is because I am a bigger KenFlo fan and really want to see Kenny back in the title picture. Either fight would be great though and would show whether or not the WEC LWs were as good as the UFC LWs all along or if there was a good reason for them to be in a lesser league.
Me too. I think it would be a lot more even but I would pick Kenny over Pettis right now.
would like to see pettis fight kenflo and get at least one ufc fight under his belt before he gets a shot. i think guida should fight sotiropolous next, but if miller isn't going to get a title shot then let him fight either sotiropolus or guida. i dunno, this draw has kinda tied a knot in the lw matchmaking and it looks like whatever way you pick it, at least one fighter is gonna miss out on fighting for a while.
kenflo is coming off a loss, y would he fight pettis?
Haha and then the Brock story comes out.
Pettis vs Ken-Flo would be dope !! That's a fight i wanna see !!
Sinse pettis is in line for the titleshot anyone he faces should be a #1 contender bout.. and kflo has just dropped his last loss in a #1 contender fight so i would hate pettis vs kenny they're at wildly different spots on the ladder, atleast guidas on a streak even if only gomi can be called on as 'top competition'
Either match would be great, and hats off to Pettis for wanting to fight now and not wait. Smart move on his part. If he waits he could be waiting a long time, and he knows the fans and the UFC want to see him fight now. That's a true champ move, those who "wait it out" for an injured champ to get better are fighting for the wrong reasons.
Fighting for the wrong reasons? He is fighting to make a living. If he is champ he will make 10 times the money per fight. If he looses he will be nickle and diming it for the next 2 years untill he beats everyone to climb up the ladder. He needs to take a fight he knows he will win. He was handed a golden egg and needs to cash out on it. Dana will give him a easy fight while he waits!!
But fight fans are fickle as hell. If in the next 10 months, other lightweights put on amazing performances, no one will remember Pettis if he is not in the mix. They will be demanding some other title contender. It's sad but true. Now that Pettis is in the UFC, he has to up his exposure. As long as he puts on a great fight, win or lose he will remain in the mix. And a fight with Guida is guaranteed to be memorable. It is risky but necessary.
And... no fight is a given win.
Agree, but damn fighting Guida or Sanchez
guida fighting for the title if he beats pettis HELL NO, miller or sots are way more up the title contention list than guida.
Will you all stop being so damn anal about the rankings? This is a good fight. I want to see it. You will be entertained.
A Guida fight makes more sense as he is on a win streak. K-Flo lost his last fight. As much as I would love to see that fight, I don't see it happening. Pettis has his hands full either way. It's time to see if there is a difference between the elite of the UFC and the elite of the WEC. I think K-Flo should fight Henderson. That makes more sense and would be a sick fight.
Actually, after thinking about this, a Henderson/Guida fight would be amazing. I think Henderson is fighting Bocheck (sic) at UFC 129 though.
Kenny lost to a Maynard in 3 round decision. Maynard outwrestled Florian, yes, but it was not the most dominant victory I have seen. Maynard is still the number one contender, so Kenny should be high enough in the rankings to fight Pettis.
Besides, it would be a great fight standing and on the ground.
I feel for Pettis who needs the money and cannot wait 10 months for a title bout. If the winner of Maynard vs. Edgar is injured in the rematch, Pettis would again be faced with essentially the same choice.
It is better to fight now, and risk losing, than to wait for a title shot. If Pettis wants to be champ, he will have to defeat all comers in the LW division anyway. If he waits around, he not only pisses off the fans, but also pisses off Dana White and Joe Silva who need to shedule fights.
Guida vs Pettis is happening. As well it should be. Guida is on a big 4 fight win streak against legit guys. He is only one fight (Pettis) from a title shot. Everyone else has had their chance and blown it, Guida is a fan favourite and the UFC puts on fight's for the fans. It's why they are the best promotion company in the world.
Who's to say Pettis even deserves the title shot? WEC has been known to have far less Superior fighters in the 155 than the UFC. If they were the best they would be making the big bucks.
Even if Pettis does deserve the title shot, a cardio machine like Guida is a great fight for him, to really test him. I don't see him beating Guida though, not by a long shot.
It's more of a high-profile match than a top-contender match IMO. Pettis (if he really is that awesome) should go through Guida like Florian did. I think Guida needs to beat a few more dudes before he is top-cotender, like if he beat Dunham and Sotiropoulous... I actually think Dunham might be the next champ. Though if Edgar loses to Maynard - I can see BJ Penn coming down again and destroying Maynard, destroying Sotiropoulous, destroying anyone except Edgar.
Styles make fights. GSP should drop down after he smokes SHields, he is a naturally leaner WW than many and not that tall (5'10") he wouldn't be the biggest LW anyway - but I think he could clean the division.
We have to give huge respect for Pettis becouse every fighter would better cry for title shot than fight, with beasts... Guidia is a beast, I don't what can be better than Guidia vs Pettis... **** yea cant wait!!!!
Exciting fight either way... but i'd ave too pick Guida vs Pettis wat a fight too look forward too.... Florian vs Miller wud be interesting....
Yeah Guida all the way
Yo whoever wrote the title for this article, (anton?), you shouldn't use set and possibly in that same sentence. just sayin... 0.0
It would make it more interesting
I think guida should fight pettis he's well derserving and this has fotn written all over it
either one because it will be a disasterious ko.
i cant belive people are hating on this props to pettis for having the balls to take a dangerous fight when he could of just waited for the title. this is going to be a awesome fight
I think this is a better move for Pettis. It will show if WEC fighters are of similar calibre to the UFC. If not it is better to find out against a fighter like Guida, rather than in at the deep end with Edgar or Maynard. Not an easy fight for Pettis as Guida has looked to have made vast improvements in terms gameplan and patience as well as applying alot more technicality to his game. Pettis at times against henderson got overpowered but henderson wasn't skillful enough to utilise it. Guida may overpower Pettis and I only see Pettis decent chance if he can keep it standing for the majority of the fight.
This is so hard to try to make a fight that would be reasonable. Lightweight is SO STACKED.
Florian is high on the rankings then Guida and Pettis is n1 contender so obviously it should be Florian.