On August 21, UFC on ESPN 29 will take place in UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada. The headlining of the event will be a middleweight clash between Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum. The co-main of the event will be a lightweight bout between the Veteran of the UFC Clay Guida and undefeated fighter Mark O. Madsen.
Many fans think that Guida should retire from the Pro MMA career. But last time he fought, he defeated the very experienced and still one of the best strikers in the division, Michael Johnson. It happened at UFC Fight Night 184, which was held on February 6, 2021.
Thirty-nine years old fighter is one of the most experienced fighters in UFC history. He has been fighting in Strikeforce before UFC, and he was inaugural Strikeforce lightweight champion. He is a member of the UFC since 2006. In his resume, we will see names like Nate Diaz, Diego Sanchez, Rafael Dos Anjos, Anthony Pettis, Benson Henderson, Chad Mendes, Brian Ortega, Charles Oliveira, B.J Penn, Jim Miller, Bobby Green, Michael Johnson, and many others. He is one of the fighters who we call uncrowned king. He defeated lots of champions, but has never won the UFC belt.
His rival is going to be Mark O. Madsen. Thirty-six years old Danish fighter’s nickname is “The Olympian.” Well, we can say that he has a name for a reason. He is an Olympic silver medalist and four-time medalist (three silver and one bronze) at the World Wrestling Championships. After his wrestling career, Madsen became a mixed martial artist and is currently signed to the UFC.
He started his pro-MMA career in 2013. He defeated Philipp Henze via TKO in the first round. Soon after, he defeated another rival via Submission in the first round. From 2014 to 2018, he has not been active in MMA, but he won several medals in wrestling competitions.
From 2018 until his UFC debut, he won 6 fights in a row. Three of them infamous promotion Cage Warriors. In 2019, he made his UFC debut against Danilo Belluardo and defeated him in the first round via TKO. After that, he fought at UFC 248 and defeated Austin Hubbard via unanimous decision. His UFC experience counts only two fights, while Clay Guida has seen the UFC octagon from inside 30 times. But, Denish fighter has a bunch of experience from wrestling competitions.
Half of Clay’s losses are via Submissions (10x), which means that Mark will have a significant advantage on the ground. But the question is, Can “The Olimpyan” Takedown be such an experienced fighter?