Clay Guida calls out Nate Diaz after UFC 237 win, finds out his timing was hilariously off
RIO DE JANEIRO – There’s nothing wrong with having a call-out ready to go immediately after a UFC win.
Too bad Clay Guida’s timing was just a little bit off.
Guida met fellow veteran B.J. Penn in the preliminary card of UFC 237, which took place Saturday at Jeunesse Arena. Although Penn did have his moments early, Guida was able to capitalize as his foe faded, taking a unanimous nod on the judges’ scorecards and handing Penn his seventh consecutive loss.
With the result, Guida pushed his record to 3-1 in his past four and officially recovered from a loss to Charles Oliveira last – and he used the opportunity to extend an invitation.
“There’s someone that still owes me some money from some hospital bills, and he knows who he is,” Guida told reporters backstage after the ESPN-aired bout. “I meant to say it in the post-fight interview. I’m still getting bills from when Nate Diaz did his little thing from behind when I wasn’t paying attention. So, Nate, it’s been 10 years, man, since I whooped your ass. You’ve had a long time to lick those wounds, man.
“I know that money’s running out. Do you want to build some stacks? Let’s do it, buddy. Come on. It was a fun fight back then. Let’s do the 10-year reunion, man. No harm, no foul. Let’s go out there, let’s put one on for the sport, dude. We love watching you and your brother fight. You and your brother are two of the most entertaining fighters ever, man. So if you want to get one more in, I’m down.”
Guida (35-18 MMA, 15-12 UFC) beat Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) via split decision when they first met in the cage, at UFC 94 back in 2009. Diaz never got to officially avenge the loss, but that is not to say they never clashed again. Diaz and Guida’s team reportedly scuffled backstage at UFC 199 in 2016 and, more recently, Guida declined to press charges after Diaz allegedly shoved him from behind during a Combate Americas event, sending him into a metal guardrail and hurting his lip in the process.
Despite their tempestuous history, Guida says he has no resentment toward Diaz, and even sweetened the pot for a possible matchup a bit with an interesting addendum.
“He knows it: Nate, I’m not going to knock you out,” Guida said. “Maybe I’ll pitter patter you, I might have to wrestle you a little bit, but it will be a fun fight.”
Unfortunately for Guida, at around the same time that he decided to make his call out, news broke of a scheduled welterweight fight between Diaz and former champion Anthony Pettis. Diaz and Pettis, whom Guida has also beaten, are set to meet at UFC 241 in August, three years after Diaz’s last fight.
Guida got to find out halfway through the interview that his wish wasn’t going to get granted, but at least he was a good sport about it.
“Geez, don’t I sound stupid now,” Guida said jokingly. “All right. Hey, that’s going to be a great fight. We got our hand raised against both of those guys and that’s going to be a scrap. Geez. What the heck are the odds of that?”
To hear more from Guida, check out the video above.
And for complete coverage of UFC 237, check out the UFC Events section of the site.