The Ultimate Fighter
MEET FLYWEIGHT CLAIRE GUTHRIE | THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: TEAM PEÑA VS TEAM NUNES
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Record: 3-1
Birthplace: St. Joseph, Michigan
Fighting out of: Denver, Colorado
Age: 26
Stat: one win by submission
Welcome to the UFC APEX, and congratulations on making it onto the 30th season of The Ultimate Fighter! How does it feel to be here?
It feels really good. I’m excited, and it’s a little bit surreal. But I also know this a lot of hard work coming to fruition and I feel very ready for it.
How would you describe your fighting style to those who haven’t seen you compete?
I’m really not a specialist in a particular area of martial arts, but I’m definitely a threat everywhere. I’m a problem everywhere, which is really awesome because I feel that means there’s really no bad matchups for me. I’m really (like a) technical brawler – that’s a way to put it. I can put the pedal to the metal for three rounds, so I’m excited to show that.
You also train with UFC veteran Raquel Pennington. What’s that experience been like? Did she give you an advice before you left for the tournament?
I train with Raquel and JJ Aldrich, as well. They both gave me a lot of advice coming on. It’s really more just about me being myself. I’ve already got the skillset, I’ve already got the mindset. It was more like, just soak up everything I can. Just be a sponge this whole season. Really take advantage of the coaching and everything I can learn from them. Just training with both of them, in general, has been awesome. Because you know, again, they’ve both been through this experience before, and I see how strong minded they are. So, I think this really is a transformation for fighters. I’m really excited to see what I can learn from it.
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Do you believe that training with Pennington and Aldrich will give you an advantage over your opponents?
I do think that. The only thing is with women’s MMA especially, it’s so small, so most of us have trained with someone who has been on the show before. I’ve got really tough teammates. Rose Namajunas is someone I get to train with when she’s in Denver, too. Her and JJ are two of the most mentally strong females I’ve ever met in my life. Yeah, I do think I have an advantage training with these strong women.
MEET FLYWEIGHT CLAIRE GUTHRIE | THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: TEAM PEÑA VS TEAM NUNES
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MEET FLYWEIGHT CLAIRE GUTHRIE | THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: TEAM PEÑA VS TEAM NUNES
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Do you foresee any challenges living in the same house as the people you’ll be competing against? Especially with fellow contestant Juliana Miller, a person you just recently fought.
I almost think that’s kind of an exciting thing for me, being able to live with someone I have competed against and beat before. They only chose eight girls, and one of those being someone I already beat, just shows me that I’m already on top of the food chain. I think we’re going to have a really fun season. I think everyone is going to get along pretty well, but I also think we’re all very competitive. I can be very friendly with people, but then when we’re in the cage, I’m coming for blood. I think I can easily eat breakfast with someone and then go fight them a couple hours later.
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Is there a coach that you feel better suits your style?
You know I’ve thought about this a lot, between Nunes and Peña. I think they’re both going to be really fantastic coaches. I think there’s a lot of good things that come from both of them. Obviously, Nunes was a reigning champion for a long time, and she’s easily one of the best pound-for-pound females in the world. I think there’s a lot of things you can learn from her about having a champion’s mindset. But I also think she’s got some raw talents that are probably hard to teach. Whereas I think Pena’s skills might be more relatable. She obviously put on a really awesome championship performance with her last fight, so I think there’s a lot to learn from her, too. I think, in general, she might be more relatable, having been on The Ultimate Fighter before. She’s been where we’re all at now. There’s things that I’m definitely excited about from either coach. I’m just going to take advantage of whoever I get.
Why do you believe that you’ll be the one to win this season of The Ultimate Fighter?
Oh man, I think I’m going to win this season of The Ultimate Fighter because I just know how to get the job done. Like I mentioned, there’s no bad matchups here for me. It’s just hands up, chin down for me, let’s go.
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