By Simon Samano
For Fox Deportes
 
Never mind his fights, Clay Guida’s entrance to the octagon is something to watch in itself and lets you know exactly what he’s about.
 
Singing the lyrics to whatever entrance song he chooses, Guida bounces all over the place down the aisle with his Seattle-grunge hair waving everywhere. He looks like he just downed a six pack of Red Bull, except energy drink has nothing to do with it.
 
This is just who Clay Guida is. And then you get ready to watch him fight and say to yourself, “There’s no way he’s keeping up this pace.” But then he does every time. He never slows down. He keeps going and going and going.
 
What does this have to do with Guida’s fight next month against Gray Maynard at UFC on FX 4? The fact that it’s a main event — meaning it’s set for five rounds — is something Guida feels plays straight to his advantage
 
“This is something that we’ve been waiting for, for years now,” <a href=” http://sports.yahoo.com/news/clay-guida-believes-conditioning-hustle-key-beating-gray-154700041—mma.html%E2%80%9D> Guida told Yahoo! Sports</a>. “We’ve always believed that if I could get to a title fight in the UFC, my conditioning would be a huge advantage for me. I haven’t gotten there yet and was real excited once they announced that all main events would be five rounds from now on.”
 
It’s been six years since Guida went five rounds to win the Strikeforce lightweight championship from Josh Thomson. Like he is heading into his fight with Maynard, Guida was a big underdog against Thomson, except Guida had the one thing Thomson didn’t. Guida had conditioning, and he used it to his advantage to control the pace and ensure the fight entered the championship rounds, when a lot of fighters wear down.
 
That’s just what Guida is thinking heading into the Maynard fight, because he’s seen Maynard get tired after the first round before in two title fights with then-champion Frankie Edgar.
 
“I’m going to stay moving constantly against Gray,” Guida said. “We’re going to make him fight our pace.”
 
The fight is nothing short of a must-win for Guida — as well as Maynard. He’s been on the doorstep of a title shot before, only to lose the fight he had to win in order to earn it. His last fight resulted in a unanimous decision loss to current champion Benson Henderson, which wasn’t easy.
 
You better believe that’s a vote of confidence in Guida’s mind.
 
“I look at it like I’m better positioned to win the UFC belt than I ever have been before,” Guida said. “The guy who just beat me in a tough fight is now the champion. I believe I can get better, make adjustments and win against him. And right now I’ve got another top guy I get to fight, in a main event. I’m a better fighter than I was in the past when I got close to a title shot. This is a good time. This is the right moment for us.”