Going into Saturday’s UFC “Ultimate Finale” bout with Clay Guida, final WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis had been promised a title shot with victory. If he went over Clay Guida, save for more unexpected scheduling delays, he would get to try his luck against the winner of UFC Champion Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard.
Guida, however, exposed Pettis’ weak takedown and wrestling defense en route to a 30-27 victory. Though not his most “exciting” performance, it was one of his most strategically-impressive, and it represented another victory over top-level competition.
Yet Guida is not directly in line for a title shot. UFC President Dana White told Ariel Helwani that lightweight contender Jim Miller, who has won seven straight against some reasonably-strong competitors, remains ahead of Guida in the pecking order. Miller, however, has to overcome former WEC champion Ben Henderson in a match later this summer to retain that contender status.
Strikeforce Champion Gilbert Melendez is not exactly out of the discussion picture for a crack at the UFC Lightweight king. Suffice it to say, the UFC Lightweight picture is very crowded right now.
I can’t wait for the UFC’s LWs to educate Gilbert Melendez regarding his true MMA skill level. According to Gilbert, he’s the best LW on Earth. I believe that Penn, Edgar, Maynard (really a WW to be fair), Florian, Guida (despite former loss early on), Jim Miller, Guillard, Henderson and some others would defeat Melendez.