Guida came out hopping and dancing. Pettis opened up with a pair of straight punches. He seemed a little intrigued by Guida's motion. Guida capitalized on a Pettis high kick for a take down. Pettis immediately attacked for a triangle attempt that Guida escaped. Pettis scored with some punches up and avoided most of Guida's punches down. Pettis fired a capoeira kick from his back to force Guida to let him up. Guida immediately went for a single leg and got Pettis down against the cage. Guida landed with some shoulder strikes. Pettis went for a triangle that Guida fought off. Guida trapped him against the cage and landed more shoulder strikes to end the round.
Guida landed a leg kick to open the second. Guida shot in for a double leg after a minute and got Pettis down. Pettis fought hard to stand up but couldn't get past sitting for a long time. He finally got up after 75 seconds. Pettis broke with a pair of uppercuts then another capoeria kick. Then he landed an incredible spinning back kick and landed a combination to answer a Guida leg kick. Pettis circled away then Guida forced his way in for another double leg take down. Pettis immediately threw up his hips and threatened with a triangle. Pettis went for an arm bar that forced Guida to spin furiously as the buzzer rang out the round.
Guida took center cage to open the final round. Guida landed a big overhand right and followed with a double leg take down. Pettis immediately attacked Guida's right arm on the ground. Guida landed an elbow before Pettis again went for a triangle. Guida advanced to half guard and threw shoulders. Pettis fought to sit up against the cage but Guida held him down. Pettis fought to his feet with two minutes left but Guida kept him pinned against the fence. Pettis reversed him and got the mount. Then back mount where he rained down punches. Guida escaped out the back door and again attacked from the top. Guida rained down punches and got side control with 30 seconds left. Guida forced Pettis into a cradle then took his back as time ran out.
Guida brought a three fight win streak into the bout with wins over Rafael dos Anjos, Shannon Gugerty and Takanori Gomi.
Pettis was the last champion of the WEC's lightweight division and had been promised an immediate title shot coming into the UFC. Unfortunately for Pettis, champ Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fought to a draw at UFC 125 and both came up injured before a scheduled UFC 130 rematch.
For Guida, a win could put him up for consideration as a contender in the division, adding on to a three-fight win streak that includes submission victories over Rafael dos Anjos, Shannon Gugerty, and Takanori Gomi. Pettis is in a similar situation as he was the last WEC lightweight champion before the merger late last year, and he's shown improvements in every single bout since his injection into the ranks of the WEC.
