“[I’ve heard people say] in mixed martial arts and the UFC, three or four fights is the average career,” Guida acknowledged. “To me, it’s just like, ‘Man, after all that work to get to the UFC, you’re not going to stick around or you’re not going to train even harder to stay there?’ To me, that doesn’t sit well. We’re built to last and we’re going to keep doing this for a long time. I think Holly Holm said it best, ‘Do not put retirement next to my name because it’s almost an insult to me.’”
Throughout Guida’s many years training on the wrestling mats at Team Alpha Male, he befriended former UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes. In 2015, Mendes helped build a fishing guide service, Finz and Featherz. After teaching Guida about the business aspects of the company, “The Carpenter” moved down to Florida and created his own service, in collaboration with Mendes, called Gillz and Thrillz, which helps its clients fish, as well as take them on an all-access adventure to an upcoming sporting event or concert.
Max Holloway Fight Week Interview
Like fighting, Guida’s fished ever since he was a little kid. He fell in love with it, eventually making it his go-to pastime during training camp to help his body and mind slow down and recover from a hard day’s work. Now, Guida gets to share his love for fishing at a professional level and start building a career outside of fighting whenever the day comes that he does decide to hang up the gloves.
“I teamed up with my teammate Chad Mendes, he has Finz and Featherz, so we started Gillz and Thrillz with Guida,” Guida said. “It’s a fishing guide service; we take our clients out on the water – salt water, fresh water, anywhere in the country. We catch tarpon, bull sharks, tuna and then we’ll take them to a UFC event, we’ll take them to a rock concert like Metallica [or] Zac Brown Band. We take them to a live sporting event and take them behind the scenes; bring them backstage at some of these concerts, have them meet the fighters at these events, take ’em to the dugout. Just give them an all-access experience. It’s pretty amazing and I just like to be able to pass on the things that I take an interest in and the things I like to do and pass it on to our fans, our clients, our friends, and really give them a lifetime experience.”
