Chase Hooper says it is an “honor” to fight Clay Guida and vows to submit the veteran at UFC 310

Chase Hooper was thrilled when he was offered the opportunity to compete against a legend like Clay Guida.

Hooper picked up a big win over Slava Borschev with a dominant victory. After the win, he wasn’t sure what was next for him. But when he was offered Guida, he was thrilled because he was eager to fight a legend.

“I was definitely surprised,” Hooper said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “As far as opponents go, Slava is a guy who wants to hurt you, so I thought this would be a scarier fight. Clay is the one who just tries to beat you, it’s a higher level and more varied experience. I was really interested in the match and the UFC was really interested in making it happen. I’m here for it. It’s always an honor to fight someone like him, it’s not every day you get the opportunity to fight a Hall of Famer.”

It also serves as a rematch of their grappling match, which Chase Hooper won via a calf cutter in the first round. However, he says he can’t watch the grappling match too much because he knows MMA grappling is very different.

“The biggest part is not being overconfident. He’s still a dog and still in the fight,” Hooper said. “He’s really powerful, has great cardio and great pressure. There are still many things I need to pay attention to. But I would say my jiu-jitsu is better, but I would say that would be the case. He’ll probably do better in an undershirt and his feet, we’ll see. It’s an entertaining matchup and I can understand why the UFC was so interested in being a part of it. If we hit it will be wild, and if we wrestle it will be fun tussles.”