Early 2025 has been a busy year for the UFC.
There’s already talk of Conor McGregor returning. Holly Holm made her exit from the promotion and Merab Dvaslishvili snapped Umar Nurmagomeddov’s undefeated streak. In the midst of this news came something quite as big, but mostly under wraps as UFC veteran Clay Guida was released from the promotion.
Clay Guida had been with UFC for 19 years. He produced some of the best fights in the promotion. The 43-year-old won Fight of the Night honors six times against Tyson Griffin, Roger Huerta, Nate Diaz, Diego Sanchez, Benson Henderson and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Guida was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2019.
But signs of his UFC exit isn’t too shocking. That’s because Clay had been on a three fight skid, with his last fight being a breaking point for Dana White. The UFC CEO stated at the UFC 310 conference that several legends should really consider hanging up the gloves, and one of those names included Clay Guida.
"They all retire tonight,” White told the media when asked what happens to Clay Guida, Chris Weidman, and Anthony Smith next. "They should all retire tonight."
Guida didn’t follow the UFC CEO’s advice. He made it clear in an instagram post that he would be back in the octagon after his third straight loss.
“The kids got some skills!” Guida told his followers on social media after taking a few days off. “Congratulations to you and your camp @choop556. What a performance!!! You have a bright future young man!!!
“Thanks to everyone in the GUIDA MAFIA that came to Vegas to support us and the rest of the athletes!!! We truly have the best fans in the World!!! Huge thanks to my Coaches for preparing me, and to my Family and Friends for always being there! and believing in us!!! We will be back!!!”
Though Guida had never won a belt within the UFC, he’s still considered one of the greats by fans and even Dana White himself. It’s a shame that his career came to an abrupt end, but it’s also understandable as Guida just wasn’t the fighter that he used to be. Father time gets the best of all of us.
Thus far, Dana White hasn’t publicly confirmed Clay Guida’s release. The former UFC star hasn’t spoken out about the release himself either. Guida will go down as one of the greats in MMA. It wouldn’t be surprising if he tried to jump over to a different promotion, but if he doesn’t put down the gloves today then he’ll have a great career to look back on. Clay Guida leaves the UFC with a record of 38 wins and 25 losses.