All credits to Mac Sloan of Sherdog.com for this news
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 8 -- The showdown had been billed and labeled as a potential fight of the year candidate. Most mixed martial arts insiders figured the stylistic matchup between lightweights Roger Huerta and Clay Guida was a recipe for fireworks, a guarantee that fans would receive an early Christmas gift.
Both Huerta and Guida made the pundits look like experts.
In a fight that was as exhilarating as it was dramatic, once-beaten contender Huerta was forced to muster the strength of 10 tigers to score an unbelievable come-from-behind victory early in the third round.
For much of the contest -- check that: war -- Huerta was bested by the grittier Guida, but the Mexican-American survived the scare, cleared his head and stormed out with his guns ablaze in the final round.
Guida had promised to bring the action, to make Huerta defend a relentless attack and keep the fan favorite on his back. Guida stated that he'd do whatever it took to pummel Huerta, whether it would be strikes, submissions or simple ground and pound.
The Windy City fighter delivered on his promise, but for reasons nobody will truly understand, Guida couldn't close the show despite dishing out a tremendous amount of punishment on the Sports Illustrated cover boy.
The two men locked horns immediately and never relented, each landing huge punches between slams and submission attempts. Guida's punches found their mark more frequently than did Huerta's and though the Minnesotan continuously attempted subs, the Chicagoland native escaped them all and was able to hammer down furious barrages.
Late in the second, Guida tried once again to shoot in for a takedown but he bluffed, forcing Huerta to unnecessarily sprawl. When Huerta dropped to his knees, Guida quickly closed the gap and unfurled a sinister right hand that hurt his opponent.
Guida, smelling blood and sensing a stunning stoppage, pounced all over the badly wounded Huerta and unloaded a hellish fury, almost sealing the deal.
Yet Huerta was somehow able to shake off the cobwebs and rode his guard until the bell sounded to end the second.
"I thought I had the first couple of rounds," Guida said. "And he came back. He's got a lot of heart -- that's what it takes."
With Huerta possibly losing the opening stanza and clearly dropping the second, it was obvious that he needed to let everything loose and gun for some sort of stoppage or at least a 10-8 round.
Once the third began, Huerta shot out of his corner and bombarded Guida, stunning him with several punches and a knee. Guida was clearly rocked and in serious peril, but unlike his adversary, Clay would not survive the onslaught.
His bearings scrambled, Guida went down with Huerta on his back. Sinking his hooks, Huerta secured a rear-naked choke just 31 seconds into the final round of an absolute war.
"I kept coming back, and kept fighting," Huerta said. "And that's what everything is about man."
Guida and Huerta delivered more than what most expected and the victor is clearly in the hunt for a shot at the UFC lightweight title, which will be contested for on Jan. 19 between B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson.
In the co-main event, seasoned veteran Mac Danzig firmly cemented his status as the best of the "The Ultimate Fighter 6" welterweight cast as he quickly and easily dispatched relative newcomer Tom Speer in the first round.
Danzig scored an early takedown and utilized his immense experience en route to a rear-naked choke submission.
Speer was overmatched almost from the start and once Danzig secured the early takedown, Speer looked somewhat lost.
"He's so big and so strong and he's got such good wrestling, I knew I had to take him down," Danzig said of the dairy farmer. "That was kinda the game plan, to switch rolls on him and put him on his back. That's where I knew he'd be weakest."
Danzig swarmed with a dizzying array of strikes and eventually seized the larger Speer's back. In a matter of moments, Danzig had sunk in the choke, forcing Speer to tap out.
"Mac, he deserves every bit of this," Speer said. "His experience showed."
Danzig was the prohibitive favorite to be crowned the "champion" of the sixth season of Zuffa's reality show and the Cleveland-born fighter proved why. Danzig said after his victory that he planned on dropping back down to lightweight.
"That's the toughest division in the sport," he said.
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