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CLAY GUIDA’S ULTIMATE MMA WORKOUT DVD BUY IT NOW:  Arsenal Client Clay Guida prepares for the release of his new dvd. Price of DVD $19.99 + $6.99 Shipping and Handling. The project also features music from Arsenal Client James Stevenson (The Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Cult) and was produced by Ethan Dettenmaier.

DVD Price $19.99

DVD Free w/purchase $100.00

UFC FIGHTER CLAY GUIDA

MAIN EVENT OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON FINALE CAPPED OFF BY A ‘MILD NUCLEAR EXPLOSION!’ When John Fosco (Of MMA Stop) stopped by the Combat-In-Effect Radio Show on Tuesday the 16th he predicted Saturday’s fight between Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Diego ‘The Nightmare’ Sanchez would result in a ‘mild nuclear explosion! This turned out to be a very accurate way to describe it. After an intense stare down which started once Diego hit the floor, Diego came out swinging with a thunderstorm of blows that included a kick to Guida’s head. GUIDA got right back up and in turn showed remarkable (and characteristic) toughness by taking everything Sanchez had as if unfazed slammed him to the mat for a few elbows. By the end of the second round, both the fighters and the mat were covered in blood, Though Sanchez seemed to be landing more punches, Clay seemed to have more energy and nothing Sanchez could do seemed to stop Clay or slow him down. The hectic pace was maintained through the 3rd round. As the crowd began to chant “Guida!” from the stands, both fighters tried desperately to slam home a victory, right up to the final second. (The only thing that stopped this fight was the obvious respect for the rules because both fighters appeared to have the ability/desire to slam it home until one of them was killed!) Decision Sanchez. Fight of the night? Fight of the year!!! SSGT. Barnes

My experience going to Las Vegas with Combat-In-Effect was pretty surreal. As both a fighter and a fan, I was surrounded by talent all around which makes it hard for me verbalize the experience.

I arrived in Las Vegas at around 2 p.m. on Friday the 30th, the day of the weigh-ins. After putting all our things in the hotel suite, we made a B-line to Fat Tuesdays at the MGM Grand to get a drink before the weigh-ins. The weigh-ins, although very entertaining, left a sour taste in all of our stomachs because of Nate and Clay’s extremely intense stare down. There wasn’t one person with us that didn’t want to see Clay put his foot in Nate’s ass right then and there. But unfortunately for us (and luckily for Nate) we had to wait one more night to see that take place.

After the weigh-ins we met up with Clay Guida and John Fosco (Clay’s manager and owner of the hard-hitting MMAStop) at a small lounge at the MGM to see how Clay was doing. But the second Clay got out of the room he was bombarded with fans. It took us 45 minutes to get from one side of a hallway to the other. We caught a glimpse of what has made Clay a popular fighter in the ranks of the UFC.  He stayed and talked with each and every fan, signed anything they put in front of him, and took pictures for everyone. It definitely showed what kind of person Clay is. He gave everything back to his fans that night. He showed them how much they actually meant to him, and because of that, it showed me why he really is so loved by everyone in the sport. Towards the end of the night Clay, his brother and friends, including the staff and other fighters from Combat-in-effect went to eat sushi at a restaurant in the MGM where I had the opportunity to meet Clays parent’s and friends who were both very kind and excited. It really showed that ‘you are who you are around’ because through Clay’s parents you were reminded as to why Clay is such a good guy.

While walking through the halls, we ran into Loyota Machida, now if you listened to my last radio show on the LA Downtown Lounge, with Erik Mackentroth and Robert Ortiz, you would point out that I might have made a couple of comments, about him not being the most exciting fighter in the world….. But listen up, usually when you make comments like that, it’s over a couple of beers with friends and you start saying stuff like “Ya I can beat his ass” or whatever, BUT YOU DON’T EXPECT TO SEE THE GUY THE NEXT WEEK. Dude let me tell you what; I almost lost control of all bodily fluids. I wanted to hit the ground and pray he doesn’t own a radio. And of course John Fosco had to say “Isn’t there something you wanted to say to him Mike?” so of course I put my head down and turned my back to him as quickly as possible. The truth though is Loyota Machida stopped and talked to us and was a really nice guy. He had on the most killer fanny pack ever!!! Trust me if your not a fan of the sport and you saw Loyota walking around you would not think that he had the capability to give you a swift kick to the dome, but believe me HE CAN.

Then came the explosive night on the town (most of which will be buried in the Top Secret/Classified Files of the Combat-In-Effect vault) but what I can say is that this ‘crew’ may be about making the world a better place (Most of the effort behind Combat-In-Effect is in support of extensive charity work) but this group knows their way around Vegas!!! Combat doesn’t just take care of their own but also the fighters, the fans and the people they come across. It was a dangerous night!

Now comes the big day. I wake up with the awesome Las Vegas sun and honestly need to pinch myself because it hasn’t hit me yet that I’m going to be sitting damn near front row at the UFC 94 show that night… So we all get ready and go get some food, check out the town, and I even went to the gym for a little bit. Oh Yeah Big John!! When you read this, I didn’t let Vegas get the best of me, I stayed dedicated HAHA (I would like a raise please). After that we got ready and headed to the MGM Signature hospitality suite, where I got a chance to witness about 10 of the most beautiful women take photos modeling the AWESOME Combat-In-Effect apparel, Sexiness was taken to a whole other level!!!

The time has come! 6 p.m. rolls around and the big show is underway. We were chauffeured to the MGM Grand Garden Arena. When I got into the show I literally almost jumped out of my shoes when I realized how close my seats were, but I was going to be sitting right next to John Fosco and Clay’s friends. Once the show started I was stoked, it finally hit me where I was and what I was doing! It’s time: we see Clay walk out of the tunnel and the MGM Arena literally explodes with the loudest thunder of cheers I have ever heard. Once the fight started I realized that this wasn’t going to be the same as all the other fights I have watched. Spending all the time with Clay and sitting next to his family and friends I felt this was different. I wasn’t watching a random guy on the TV, it was like watching your older brother be in there and you really almost can’t watch the fight because of all the emotion going wild. I would look over at John from time to time and would see him and everyone just watching the clock, counting the seconds, hoping he wouldn’t make a mistake, then the clock winds down to 0 and all I felt was a rush of relief as we knew that Clay did everything he needed to and he pulled out a beautiful victory.

The rest of the fights were incredible and I had the most amazing time, but you could tell that this night was about Clay. Getting the opportunity to see veterans like St. Pierre and Penn, up and comers like Jon Jones, or contenders like Loyota put on a clinic (WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN MY FACE) was incredible.

After the fight we went back to our suite and on our way up to our room believe it or not, standing no more then 1 foot from me was GSP. Getting an opportunity to see THE MAN right after fighting in front of 14,000+ people, and just being able to talk to him and see what kind of emotions he was having off camera was priceless. Let me add by the way, that when standing there not only is GSP the best champion ever, but he also represents what a champion should be like on and off the stage. He stood there shook everybody’s hand, looked everyone in the eyes while doing it, and showed how humble of a man this guy really is. He has a character that every champion needs to emulate, and for that I respect him more than ever.

From there we went straight over to the Hawaiian Tropic Zone at Planet Hollywood for Clay’s after party. This was a fantastic event! As soon as we walked in I realized that not only were the Combat-In-Effect girls present, hanging out with everyone, but also I was literally surrounded by HUNDREDS of the most beautiful girls I’ve seen (a 22 year old’s heaven). We had a couple drinks, danced and partied. As soon as Clay got there everybody got a chance to hang out with him, his brother and family the whole night. We passed out tons of free shirts, hats, etc…. I don’t think anybody left till 4 in the morning. It was an amazing time.

All and all, my entire trip with Combat-In-Effect can be summed up as no less than amazing. It has given me a new outlook on fighting, and has gotten me excited for my own fighting career. Its shown me that work is not just done in the ring, and in the gym, but it’s actually done everywhere, whether it’s signing things for fans, doing interviews, or simply not forgetting to put on a hat or shirt for your sponsors. I’m excited to be apart of something as big as Combat-In-Effect, their charity work and, in a round about way, the UFC and can’t wait to see where it takes me next.

On November 2^nd, 2008, I blogged my analysis and fight predictions for November 15^th’s UFC91… Seems I was right on the mark with the fights that remained on the main card after last minute changes…

Nate Quarry Vs. Demian Maia (from Nov 2^nd’s blog)

Quarry has a lot of heart and great conditioning, but I don’t think this fight will last all that long… If Maia can take the fight to the ground, Quarry doesn’t have an answer for the various submissions that’ll be thrown at him…

Demian Maia by submission

This fight was a no brainer for diehard fightfans… Nate Quarry was a nice guy on TUF season 1, and has legitimate skills, but as Maia clearly displayed last Saturday, they are not in the same league and I don’t believe Quarry would make it out of the 1^st round vs the current division champ, Anderson Silva…

Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Josh Hendricks (from Nov 2^nd’s blog)

Gonzaga is yet another bigger, stronger, younger, faster opponent that has faced Randy Couture and lost, but other than that setback and the decision Werdum barely edged out over him, Gabe Gonzaga is almost a seemingly unstoppable force as long as he has a good night…

Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO

Gonzaga showed both his power and superiority on Saturday night and the quick knockout of Hendricks was all arm, he didn’t even throw his hips into the short right hand that dropped him…

Amir Sadollah Vs. Nick Catone (from Nov 2^nd’s blog)

I don’t really know anything about the newcomer Catone, but despite his undefeated mma record, I’m positive the UFC won’t put Amir in against someone they think even has a chance at beating him with this being his 1^st fight in the Octagon since winning last season’s Ultimate Fighter…

Amir Sadollah by TKO

Of course, this matchup was cancelled due to a staff infection to Sadollah sadly postponing both Amir’s triumphant return as well as Nick Catone’s UFC debut…

On another note, I just want to point out that I’m tired of watching Jorge Gurgel stand toe to toe only to lose decisions when his BJJ is so good its ridiculous! I understand he wants to put on exiting fights and that he feels he’s “been there, done that” in the world of BJJ, but this is Mixed Martial Arts and he should fight with his head a little more instead of trying to prove he isn’t one dimensional every single fight… We get it Jorge, you’re a tough guy, you can take a punch as well as deliver a head kick, but your BJJ is so far above almost every opponent you’ve faced, WIN some fights! You’re frustrating to watch!

Kenny Florian Vs. Joe Stevenson (from Nov 2^nd’s blog)

If this fight stays standing up, Kenny Florian will pick Stevenson apart and if it goes to the ground, Florian is a much more dangerous submission fighter as well, BUT… Stevenson is a great wrestler and if he can take Florian down and avoid being submitted, he’s strong enough and has a good enough base to avoid being swept and keep the top position winning him a 3 round decision…

Kenny Florian by TKO

On Saturday night, KenFlo proved that dispite one of the worst nicknames in MMA, he does indeed disserve another title shot… That might’ve been the deepest rear naked choke I’ve seen in a long time and Joe Daddy held on as long as humanly possible, but if he’d waited even 5 more seconds before tapping, he would’ve been out cold and dreaming about being beat down by Kenny Florian… I don’t think BJ Penn is too worried about Florian though even though he should be, cuz Kenny’s been finishing fights almost every time in a division where many matchups go the distance…

Main Event:

Randy Couture Vs. Brock Lesnar (from Nov 2^nd’s blog)

I think Lesnar is too big and too strong and could possibly overwhelm Couture because both of their main strengths is wrestling… Lesnar is younger, bigger, stronger, AND faster, BUT… I won’t ever bet any money AGAINST Randy Couture cuz he’s made an entire career out of upset victories…

Brock Lesnar by TKO in the early rounds

I hate to say it, but I think that The Natural is just simply too small to defeat the MUCH larger Lesnar’s takedowns and ground and pound…

This was an unfortunate prediction for me being that I myself am a HUGE Randy Couture fan… I’m glad that Randy’s not planning to retire again quite yet…

The 1^st round was an awesome spectacle of athleticism, strength, will, and determination… Back and forth it went, with Brock shooting in for the take down and Randy stuffing the seemingly indestructible attempt… I was surprised at how Couture seemed to control the clinch against the much larger opponent and had Lesnar backed into the fence for much of the round… The Natural’s boxing was on point too as he peppered Brock with shots from unorthodox angles… Lesnar did surprise this fight fan as well though, he’s obviously been working extremely diligently on his standup cuz he was catching the much more experienced Couture, who boxed while in the army before starting his hall of fame MMA career, with stiff jab after stiff jab… All in all, the 1^st round seemed neck and neck, with both men holding the top position on the ground as well… Lesnar did look powerful and of course MUCH bigger and stronger, but Couture showed that his skills are far superior… At times it looked like a David and Goliath scenario, but round 2 proved what I’d been feeling since predicting this fight at the start of the month…

Round 2 started much as the 1^st, but Brock surprised the world catching the champ with an overhand right elbow of all strikes, wobbling the better striker in Couture… Lesnar then charged in for the finish only to be caught in the clinch while Randy seemed to recover… 30 seconds later though, the inevitable was realized as Brock fainted the jab, and caught the champ right behind the ear with his XXXXL straight right… Couture dropped to the canvas and Lesnar immediately pounced to finish the fight with an impressive barrage of quick powerful hammer strikes followed up by a few forearms and elbows before the ref stepped in…

I really think Couture should drop back down to 205, even at 45 years of age, he’s still been improving in almost every aspect of his game and I believe he has the tools to beat most of the light heavyweight contenders… We can only hope that 2009 will see possible matchups between Captain America and Forrest Griffin, Jardine, or maybe Rashad Evans… Imagine Couture catching Machida in the clinch, pushing him up against the fence and basically giving Lyoto the beating that eluded him thus far in Machida ’s career… How interesting would a fight between Randy and Rampage be? How about Wanderlei? There are so many possibilities for amazing matchups for Randy Couture at 205 before father time does finally catch up to him… 2009 should be an interesting year…

The views and opinions posted do not reflect that of Combat in Effect.