UFC-Norfolk's Clay Guida knows how baseball's home-run sluggers must feel

NORFOLK, Va. – Clay Guida thinks Joe Lauzon could have gone on without those follow-up blows. But landing that one solid uppercut still felt pretty good.

On Saturday Guida (34-17 MMA, 14-11 UFC) and Lauzon (27-14 MMA, 14-11 UFC) met in a lightweight main-card clash that, upon its announcement, had “Fight of the Night” written all over it. Guida, however, made sure it didn’t get that far, and he dropped Lauzon with a clean shot and followed it up with a few strikes to prompt a stoppage at the 67-second mark of Round 1.

The UFC Fight Night 120 win marked Guida’s first finish since 2011 – and first knockout since 2008. It’s safe to say he’s pretty happy with it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever landed a flush knockout – a flush uppercut like that on someone,” Guida told MMAjunkie after the FS1-televised scrap, which took place at Ted Constant Convocation Center on the Old Dominion University campus in Norfolk, Va.

“I guess that’s how those professional baseball home-run sluggers feel when they smash one out of the freaking ball park. Because that felt pretty amazing.”

Here’s the blow (via Twitter)

The fight between the two notoriously durable brawlers didn’t turn into the drag-out war that many expected – or perhaps wanted. But for Guida, a longtime admirer of the “awesome” Lauzon, it went pretty much according to plan.

“Joe is one of those guys – you don’t want it to go too long, because he’s so dangerous he can finish a fight at any moment,” Guida said. “I’ve seen him knock guys out, we’ve seen him sub black belts, and we’ve seen him sub very good wrestlers.

“I didn’t want to give it any chance to get out of hand. So we got in there, put some hands on him, and we got our hand raised.”

That is, apart from this one thing.

“I felt like it went a few extra strikes I didn’t want to,” Guida said.

In any case, considering it was the last fight in his UFC contract, Guida picked a remarkably good occasion to find his way back into finishes. And his post-fight handling of it didn’t hurt, either.

“There was a lot at stake in this fight that didn’t know about,” Guida said. “We feel we put a stamp on it and an exclamation point. So, big things to come for ‘The Carpenter’ camp and Team Alpha Male.”

As he’d made clear in the octagon, Guida wants one specific UFC-related meeting now – and that is with UFC President Dana White. Inside the octagon,  though, Guida’s philosophy remains the same: He’s willing to fight whomever those who sign his checks want.

But, now on a two-fight winning streak since his return from a shaky stint in the lower featherweight division, Guida wants any possible competitor to know this one thing.

“We’re back at 155, and the cream is rising to the top,” Guida said. “You guys watch out. ‘The Carpenter’ is coming. I don’t care who’s in front of me. I am the cream of the 155-pound division. You guys better watch out.”

To hear more from Guida, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 120, check out the UFC Events section of the site.