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#2 Jim Miller vs. Clay Guida
Given how long these two have been in the UFC – Clay Guida debuted in 2006, Jim Miller in 2008 – and the crazy amount of fights they’ve been through in that time, it’s hard to believe that they’ve never faced off before. The problem with matching them at this point? Both men are miles past their prime and so the fight essentially means nothing in the bigger picture. That doesn’t mean it won’t be fun, though.
Guida has actually been on a solid run as of late; he’s 3-1 since returning to 155lbs in 2017, and he looked great in his knockout win over Joe Lauzon in November that year. Sure, it was worrying to see him struggle for a round with the re-animated corpse of BJ Penn earlier this year, but for the most part the tools that brought him near the top of the division a decade ago – his wild pace, strong wrestling game and unorthodox striking – are still there, it’s just that they don’t work quite as well against higher-level opponents any more.
Miller, on the other hand, is coming off a pretty impressive win over Jason Gonzalez – his second first-round submission win in his last three fights – but if anything, he’s struggled far more than Guida over the past few years. A battle with Lyme Disease was initially blamed for his slide – he lost 4 of 5 fights from 2014 to 2016 – but a 4-fight slide from 2017 to 2018 was more worrying as his durability and cardio both seem to have vanished.
In their primes, I probably would’ve picked Miller to win this fight handily based on the fact that while Guida’s pace would’ve caused him some issues, Miller’s grappling skill was far superior in terms of submissions, positional sense, and so forth, and while Guida has always been an awkward striker, in his prime Miller was a pretty excellent kickboxer with some good power in his strikes.
Now, though? I think you’ve got to go with the fighter who seems closer to being in his prime, and for me that’s Guida. Seeing Miller struggle with the pace of the likes of Francisco Trinaldo and Anthony Pettis in particular is worrying for this fight as Guida tends to push a far quicker pace than the majority of fighters in the division, and I think that alone will be enough to force Miller to wilt, even if it’s not enough to finish him. Hopefully, the fight will be entertaining too due to the grappling skill of both men.
The Pick: Guida via unanimous decision
