Report: Clay Guida vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri booked for UFC Fight Night 39
The UFC’s return to the Middle East has its latest addition in the form of a lightweight scrap between two veterans.
Clay Guida (30-14 MMA, 10-8 UFC) is set to take on Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-7-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 39 in Abu Dhabi this April. The news first was reported by FightSportAsia, and later FOXSports.com.
UFC Fight Night 39 takes place April 11 at Yas Island, a man-made entertainment center in Abu Dhabi. In the main event, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira meets “TUF 10″ winner Roy Nelson in a heavyweight bout. The card will stream on UFC Fight Pass.
Guida hasn’t fought since a third-round TKO loss to Chad Mendes in August at UFC 164. The setback was the first knockout loss of his long career. It also was his first loss since dropping to featherweight, which started with a split-decision win over Hatsu Hioki at UFC on FOX 6 in January 2013.
Guida has dropped three of his past four fights after a four-fight winning streak that included three straight submissions – and two bonuses – and an upset of current lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at the TUF 13 Finale. But in the past six years, Guida’s five losses have all been to eventual champions or title challengers – Mendes, Gray Maynard, Benson Henderson, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez.
Kawajiri, after a year off, made his UFC debut in January riding a five-fight winning streak in Asia, and he impressed with a second-round rear-naked choke submission of Sean Soriano at UFC Fight Night 34 in Singapore. The Japanese standout had long been considered one of the best lighter-weight fighters outside of the UFC, but his only real exposure to a U.S. audience came when he was stopped by Gilbert Melendez in a Strikeforce lightweight title fight in April 2011.
The 35-year-old’s resume includes wins over the likes of Josh Thomson, Gesias “JZ†Cavalcante, Yves Edwards, Joachim Hansen and Michihiro Omigawa. He has fought for PRIDE, DREAM and ONE FC, as well as his bouts for Strikeforce and the UFC.
