Clay Guida removed from UFC roster after nearly 19 years with the promotion
The UFC roster tracker, a bot that tracks fighter additions and subtractions, initially noted Guida’s removal from the roster with additional sources confirming the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday.
Guida’s legendary run with the UFC started all the way back in 2006 when he made his debut with the promotion at UFC 64 where he earned a Submission of the Night award for his win over Justin James.
From there, Guida was a stalwart on the UFC roster facing a long list of top names while primarily competing in the lightweight division. In 2007, Guida notably went to war with Roger Huerta in a battle that many considered the Fight of the Year.
He followed that up in 2008 with another all-time great fight against Diego Sanchez with that matchup eventually earning him a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.
During his remarkable run, Guida faced a slew of former or future champions and top contenders while scoring wins over names such as Nate Diaz, Rafael dos Anjos, Takanori Gomi, Anthony Pettis and B.J. Penn.
In recent years, Guida has faced plenty of ups and downs with a 2-5 record over his past seven fights but he never shied away from accepting any opponent the UFC offered him. Most recently, Guida suffered through a three-fight losing skid, which preceded his exit from the UFC roster.
Guida exits the UFC with a jaw-dropping resume that includes six Fight of the Night awards with the fourth most bouts in UFC history (37), the fifth most total time spent in the UFC at over seven hours and the most control time in UFC lightweight history with over two hours and second most in the entire history of the organization behind only fellow Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre.