Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi

The relentlessly energetic Clay "The Carpenter" Guida utilized a bewildering new strategy of constant movement and atypical patience to confuse and eventually choke out the legendary Takanori Gomi via Guillotine in the second round of their UFC 125 clash. It proved an interesting, if unexpected, stylistic encounter in what was confidently but wrongly billed as a striker vs. wrestler exchange.

Gomi, in his third fight in the Octagon, no doubt expected a vintage performance by Guida involving "The Carpenter's" relentless pressure, takedown attempts against the cage, and furious punching exchanges. Though Guida looked his typical charged-up self entering the cage that first night of the New Year in 2011, he had no such plan in mind. Instead, straight from the opening bell Guida began to feint repeatedly in an almost over-exaggerated style on the outside, bouncing on the balls of his feet and bobbing levels up and down with his hair swinging wildly about him. Gomi, expecting an immediate onslaught, was instead forced to wait patiently on the outside, cocked and ready to fire but without a clear target. Guida was feinting from such a distance that he looked to be almost disengaged in a pointless show. But as the round wore on the cleverness of Guida's strategy began to prove itself. Gomi began to look irritated and bothered. Guida darted in between long spells of inaction, either catching Gomi with a heavy strike or shooting in for a takedown, only to dance back out before Gomi could effectively engage him.

After a first round that Guida notched 10-9 due to Gomi's almost complete inability to find him, the same strategy began to play out in the second. Guida mixed up darting shots with takedown attempts from the outside, all the while a whirling dervish of motion and energy bobbing to and fro. Finally, in the midst of a ground exchange initiated by a Guida takedown late in the round, Gomi slipped into a beautifully devised Guillotine that Guida offered him while Guida was mounted. Guida was confident enough in the choke to relinquish top position, where he sunk in the arm-in Guillotine with little more than thirty seconds left in the stanza for the tap.

The bout's unorthodox nature was outdone only by its import for Guida's career, who seemed once again to perpetually alternate big wins and big losses in his lightweight journey. Gomi, meanwhile, faced questions about both his UFC preparedness -- he now stood at 1-2 in the promotion -- as well as the level of polish on his ground game. With the win, Guida became the second man to choke out "The Fireball Kid" after Marcus Aurelio improbably did so years beforehand in Pride.