When a fight is over, usually the sign that it’s time to leave and quit is taking off the gloves.
Clay Guida had just lost to Rafa Garcia in the first fight of the UFC Kansas City main card. When it was Garcia’s turn for an interview, Guida took off his gloves and stayed in the cage. Daniel Cormier thought that this meant he was about to retire from fighting – but it turns out Clay actually wasn’t considering leaving yet at all!
Guida said to the crowd, “I tricked you all – I’m not leaving yet! I want to congratulate Rafa Garcia for his great fight and ask him to give me his gloves in honor of it.”
He then wished everyone a happy birthday, including his mom who was there that Saturday.
Clay Guida made a heartfelt message to someone but this didn’t make Dana White happy, the President of UFC. He was not glad that Clay had used the live broadcast station to pass his own message secretly.
Dana said he likes Clay, but he was angry at him for faking his retirement just to say a ‘happy birthday’.
Guida wasn’t the only one, as Bill Algeo did something similar in Kansas City just before attacking the crowd. He had finished T.J. Brown with a rear-naked choke submission and gained some recognition for his great fight performance. Since Bill was from outside Philadelphia and his hometown Eagles recently lost to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Super Bowl, he used this opportunity for payback through his microphone time.
Guida only got the chance to talk because it seemed like he was planning to quit his job. But instead, Guida was just trying to get an interview.
White was not happy about that because Guida kept saying “happy birthday” or something like that instead of focusing on their live event.