Greg Jackson talks Guida strategy against Maynard, trying to win fights not entertain
Clay Guida coach Greg Jackson was recently interviewed about the ultimately unsuccessful stick and move strategy that the fighter debuted against Gray Maynard at UFC on FX 4 this past month. Check out highlights of the interview below:
On what he would like Guida to have done more during the fight:
“I wanted Clay to, after he drew Gray out, to engage a little bit more, but I think Clay was waiting for him to open up a little bit and he was able to land some combinations when he did that. But one of the things that I think both Clay and I learned is that … we need to do a little more right after the misses, kind of jumping on him a little bit more. I chalk it up to experience and a learning process, and hopefully we won’t be in that situation again where we have such a close decision. Hopefully we’ll be able to dominate the next time.”
On the change in strategies by Guida for Maynard:
“In a lot of those fun, exciting fights, [Guida] ended up on the wrong side of those. He would get dropped or he’d get choked out a lot of times. You have to be able to fight the guy that’s in front of you, and Gray is an incredible fighter. … To just run at that guy and throw caution to the wind and hope you don’t get caught with a big punch and choked out again, it is a little silly. You do want to be able to try to do something that maybe favors you a little bit.”
On the uneven praise and criticism he gets as a coach:
“Two fights earlier Cub Swanson did beautifully and got Fight of the Night. When you have a situation like that, when you have a spectacular performance and then you have Clay, who stuck and moved, but he should have stuck a little more than he moved — that happens. He still got a split decision. He was a 4-1 underdog. Had we done just a little more, I think it would have gone our way. But [some criticism] is obviously just biased because no one’s saying, ‘Hey Greg, that was a great game plan with Cub. Way to get the second knockout of his career and Knockout of the Night and look so good.’ It’s all about the negative stuff. At that point, it doesn’t hold any water for me, so I’m all right.”
Source: Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show” (16:33 mark)
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