Clay Guida is a 43-year-old American professional mixed artist who holds one of the most impressive records in the lightweight division of the UFC. Dubbed the Carpenter, he has also competed under the Strikeforce MMA promotion where he won the inaugural Strikeforce Lightweight Championship. He has an impressive record of winning over 35 fights.
While his career as a combat sports fighter is quite interesting, he has managed to keep details about his married life private and this strongly suggests that he may not be married. However, he is the father of a daughter named Gia Guida whom he had with his former partner, Aissa Juergen.
Clay Guida was Born into an Italian Family in Round Lake
Clay Guida was born on December 8, 1981, in Round Lake, Illinois to Chuck Guida and Debbie Guida. He grew up alongside an older brother, Jason Guida who is also a professional MMA fighter, and a sister named Kermalene. His parents used to work two jobs to ensure they catered for the fighter and his siblings.
His family is based in Round Lake, a community that has a fascinating history dating back to hundreds of years. As far back as 1901, Armour and Company company completed the largest ice house in the world which was located in Round Lake. Aside from being born in a place steeped in History, his family is of Italian origin and this means that they did things together. Unsurprising, Clay and his brother, Jason, share a strong bond.
Clay started wrestling at the age of 5 and by the time he was in high school at Johnsburg High School, he participated in three sporting activities. He proceeded to Harper College where he competed as a wrestler.
He became a Professional MMA Fighter by Accident
According to Clay Guida, he started MMA by accident. Apparently, he went to watch his big brother, Jason make his professional debut. At the event, he realized that a fighter had pulled out at the last minute and this made him make a quick decision to replace him. Following this, he fought on one hour’s notice.
He made his MMA debut in a match against Adam Copenhaver, a veteran fighter who had an 8-fight record at the time. Guida lost the fight via submission but he did not allow such a setback to hold him back.
Since then, he has faced other contenders in the octagon. In fact, he fought his first successful fight in March 2004 against Adam Bass. By October of the same year, he set a winning streak that lasted for 15 fights till he lost to Joe Jordan in December 2005. Regardless, he has given and received good thrashing making him one of the most admired fighters in the cage.
Notably, the year 2006 was another career milestone for Guida. He started by winning Tristan Yunker at KOTC: Redemption on the River event. By March, he won the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship against Josh Thompson. The highlight of it was his UFC debut in October. He faced off with Justin James at UFC 64 which he won via submission.
How Rich is Clay Guida?
The Round Lake native is generally reported to have a net worth of $2 million which he made from a career of about two decades and other activities. Though he has not verified this amount, some indications give credence to this amount.
Clay has earned amounts as high as $100, 000 for some of his fights. Also, he makes money from brand endorsements and sponsorships. He is one of many fighters that promote SafeAuto Insurance which he also represents. Added to this, he is managed by VFD Sports Marketing which focuses on UFC fighters.
So for a man who is doing quite well financially, it is only nice that we know some ways he loves to spend his earnings. Well, he spends on his training, attending concerts of his favourite bands like the Grateful Dead as well as tickets to watch football and baseball games.
The Lightweight Fighter Isn’t Married
According to our findings, Guida is not a married man at the moment. Moreover, his social media updates do not indicate if he is dating anyone or not. Though he shares lots of updates about his life on social media, he manages to focus his attention on his career, hobbies like fishing, and time with friends and family members.
Regardless of this, it is well known that he was previously in a relationship with a woman named Aissa Juergen whom he shares a daughter named Gia. Their daughter was born on August 5, 2010.
Other Facts About Clay Guida that Will Fascinate You
1. He Started as a Wrestler before Switching to MMA
As mentioned earlier, Clay started out as a wrestler, yet, these days, Clay is attached to great fights in the octagon. More on this, he was one of the celebrated representatives of his school Harper College. While with the wrestling team, he reached the national championship level in 2001 together with his older brother, Jason, and two other friends Jarad Carlen and Wes Anderson.
After this, he moved to the University of Northern Colorado to fight unattached.
2. Clay took a Fishing Job in Alaska to figure out his Life
Following his stint with wrestling while in junior college, Clay realized that he did not know what he wanted to do with his life. Besides he was also a broke college student. As a result, he is said to have packed up his stuff and drove cross country till he got to Seattle.
While there, he found himself filling an application form for the Fishing Company of Alaska after which he boarded a plane to Alaska. Looking at his social media updates, he loves to spend time outdoors but at that early stage, he just needed to figure out his life.
As it is, he found the experience to be a wild one so he decided to make enough money and return to college.
Years later, his love for fishing pushed him to start Grillz and Thrillz with Guida, a fishing guide and grilling service.
3. Why He is Called Carpenter
Ever since he launched his career, Clay has adopted tactics that give him an edge over opponents, and this has earned him the nickname Carpenter. More on this, the nickname is due to his ability to outwork his opponents before a prize fight.
If this is an indication of his preparation for his fights, we may not be wrong to say he puts in all the hard work thereby making his fights a must-watch.
See Also: Deiveson Figueiredo: 10 Facts About The MMA Fighter
4. He also Competes Professionally in Other Combat Sports
Though he has made a name as an MMA fighter, it is not the only combat sport in which he competes professionally. He is also into Professional Grappling and wrestling which we have mentioned earlier.
Though combat sports skills can be used in different sports, he has shown that he can hold his own when it comes to competing as well.
He won Billy Quarantillo via a unanimous decision in December 2021 at the Fury Pro Grappling 3 event. However, he lost to Chase Hooper one year later.
His other sporting activity is wrestling, his first sport. He fought at the US Open in 2022 alongside Uijah Faber.
5. Guida’s Daughter is also an Athlete
If there is anything that gives Clay great pride like his career, it is definitely being a father. Based on his social media updates, his daughter Gia has added to this pride as she is also an athletic person just like her dad.
Clay shares pictures of his daughter at different events in school and through this, we gathered that she is a skilled volleyball player who has played competitively with her team. She has helped the Boiler Juniors team to reach tournaments like the Wabash Tournament Gold Division.
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