Urijah Faber and Clay Guida are both UFC veterans who were known for their excellent wrestling skill and both men have decided to return to the mats to compete at the US Open this year. Despite the fact that both men have used their wrestling in dozens of MMA fights over lengthy careers, neither of them has actually competed in wrestling for around twenty years. Urijah Faber reached the highest level of the two in both wrestling and MMA as he was a two-time NCAA qualifier back in 2001 and 2002 before working his way up to challenge for a UFC title on multiple occasions, while Clay Guida continues to ply his trade in the UFC to this day and has not yet managed to earn a title-shot.
Faber has been retired from professional MMA since the end of 2019 but he hasn’t stepped away from combat sports entirely as he has occasionally decided to compete at grappling events. Guida has also been competing at grappling events recently, first as part of the UFC team for Quintet Ultra and most recently on Fury Pro Grappling 3 against Billy Quarantillo. Of course, Guida has also remained active in MMA too and has fought five times for Team Alpha Male since Faber retired.
In the end, Faber actually managed to take second place at the US Open and only lost out to a phenomenal competitor who has managed to make the US National team on several occasions. He had this to say about the experience:
“It was great to go against the guy at that level, he obviously takes it seriously. Very dedicated. So I’m glad. The hard work for him paid off. I had a great time, I was able to dig deep I think representative for my guys and had a good time. And I love wrestling. I hope hopefully brought some more attention here. Yeah.”
“Anyways, all my guys were coming out. So I said, Hey, let me get in there and, and mix it up. So I really had a great time. And, you know, go back to the second place the Nationals. It’s my first time in 20 years, it’s not too bad.”
The footage of UFC legends Urijah Faber and Clay Guida competing at the US wrestling open was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of FloWrestling:
