Guida triumphs, but Pettis winner in long run

LAS VEGAS – The easy answer is that Anthony Pettis blew it, that by taking and losing a fight against Clay Guida rather than waiting for a shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title, he made a devastating error in judgment.

Pettis won the World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight title in December, which earned him a guaranteed shot at the UFC belt. When UFC champion Frankie Edgar drew with Gray Maynard at UFC 125, Pettis chose to fight rather than sit on the opportunity.

After Guida repeatedly took Pettis down and ground out a unanimous decision victory Saturday at the Palms Resort in the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter Finale, it would have been easy to blast Pettis' decision.

But doing so would be short-sighted and ignore the fact that the 24-year-old Pettis needed to fight for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, he made an important ally by taking the fight. UFC president Dana White loves fighters who challenge themselves and take risks.

Have no doubt that White will remember and, despite the fact that Pettis isn't next in line to fight for the title, the move to compete rather than to sit will pay off for him at some point.

"I love and respect guys like him," White said. "If you believe you are the best, you should be willing to fight anyone at any time."

Pettis did and, because he couldn't defend the takedown, lost a shot at the winner of the Edgar-Maynard rematch. But he fought extraordinarily well off his back and clearly earned Guida's respect for his willingness to step up.

That willingness is what has made Guida one of the UFC's most popular fighters. He praised Pettis for taking the bout, but conceded that if he were in Pettis' shoes, he likely wouldn't have done the same thing.

"I look back at my career and I have no regrets, but you have to be kind of selective because there is a short window in mixed martial arts," Guida said after moving himself closer to a title bout by winning his fourth in a row. "If I were him, I wouldn't have fought me. I think we're the worst matchup for our opposition every time. People know they'll have to be in shape. They know they'll have to stop a takedown. They know they're going to have to try to take us down. That's tough for a guy like [Pettis] with everything he had going for him."

That's why Pettis deserves so much credit for even taking the bout.

Rashad Evans earned the right to fight for the light heavyweight belt in May 2010 after defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but injuries to himself and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will wind up keeping him sidelined for a little more than 14 months. And when he fights, it won't be for the belt. Instead, he'll meet Phil Davis at UFC 133 with a title shot still down the road.

Pettis could have done the same thing, but he would have lost income and stagnated by sitting around. He said that despite the loss, he had no regrets about choosing to fight instead of waiting.

"Not at all," he said. "I have some holes in my game and Clay Guida and [Coach] Greg Jackson did a good job of having a good game plan. I have to go back to the drawing board and get better."

Guida once was the young and eager guy who would sign a contract first and ask who he would be fighting later. He was in some memorable wars – his bouts with Roger Huerta, Diego Sanchez and Tyson Griffin are among the most exciting of the last five years – but he lost each of those fights.

He has long had the wrestling and superior conditioning needed to win at the highest level, but didn't have the other aspects of his game. He's been slowly adding to his repertoire though as he's worked with Jackson and the win over Pettis followed impressive wins over Shannon Gugerty, Rafael dos Anjos and Takanori Gomi.

He won all three rounds on all three judges' scorecards on Saturday by taking Pettis down repeatedly and then working to avoid submissions.

"Wrestling wins championships," Guida said. "Look at most of the guys right now."

Of the seven UFC champions, five of them have a wrestling base. Pettis did a lot of good things Saturday, but he didn't defend the takedown so he couldn't pull off the highlight reel strikes which are in his arsenal.

Guida was amazed and said that as good as Pettis is now, he'll be a handful down the road as he improves.

"I think he has the trickiest guard of anybody I've ever fought," Guida said. "I must have defended 10, 12 triangles and arm bars. He hit me lights out a couple of times from the bottom, I ain't going to lie. He kicked me in the back of the head. He punched me, elbowed me and is tough as nails. He has a real tricky guard and is a super talented kid."

He's also super competitive. It didn't work out on Saturday, but guys like Pettis will find a way to get it done. He's only 24 and you get the feeling he's going to be in the title mix for a long time, even if he isn't the next challenger.