UFC on FX 4 Results: Maynard vs. Guida Was NOT Condit vs. Diaz

Fans and pundits are quick to compare Clay Guida's lackluster performance against Gray Maynard to Carlos Condit's performance against Nick Diaz, but nothing could be further from the truth. 

When Condit fought Diaz, Condit made use of his footwork to land brilliant counters and to generally outhustle Diaz. Yes, Condit evaded (or "ran" as some might say) Diaz and made the Stockton brawler chase him, but Condit was always attempting to either counter Diaz or tag him with shots while on the move. 

Due to this strategy Condit had landed 151 strikes against Diaz by the time the fight was over (compared to Diaz's 105). It may have upset the fans who expected Condit to plant his feet in front of Diaz and "bang" with him, but it was still a masterful performance and a brilliant game plan. 

However, when Guida fought Maynard, he mistook headbanging and staying way out of striking range for good footwork, sticking and moving, and counter-striking. That is to say Guida looked busy, but he barely did anything for the entire 25 minutes!

In fact, the most effective flurry landed by Guida was the one that Maynard let him land out of pure frustration in the fourth round. There was so little action that, combined, the two men landed fewer than 100 strikes, with Maynard landing 49 and Guida landing 45. 

When you're grouping Condit in with Guida and call them both "runners" who hid from a real fight, just think about that for a second. Condit landed thrive as many strikes on Diaz through his footwork and "running" than Guida did on Maynard. 

Condit's strikes were effective and numerous. Guida's strikes were few and far between, and the ones that did land didn't have that great of an impact. He didn't fight with Maynard, and he didn't fight a brilliant game plan and work angles. He just circled, and circled, and circled, and circled...

Even UFC president Dana White was outspoken about how poor of a performance Guida gave:

"

First time I have ever seen Guida get boo'd out of the building. I am booing too!!

— Dana White (@danawhite) June 23, 2012"

He had some more choice words at the post-fight press conference:

"

Dana: "This isn't f*cking dancing with the stars... this reminded me of the Kalib Starnes fight... I think it was worse than [that] fight."

— Bleacher Report MMA (@BR_MMA) June 23, 2012"

If you don't see the difference now, you're probably not going to. 

Condit fought smart against Diaz, it might not have been what people expected, but it was a fight (not "track" or any other such jeer). Guida didn't do much of anything. He moved his head around, jumped back and forth, and moved aside whenever Maynard went after him. He didn't "run," but he certainly didn't fight much either. 

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