Guy Mezger

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Guy Mezger
Statistics
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Born	Jan 1, 1968
Town of birth	Houston, Texas, USA
Fighting style	Submission fighting
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	50
By knockout	19
By submission	16
Losses	12
Draws	3
No contests	1

Guy Mezger (Jan 1, 1968) is an American martial artist who competed in combat sports ranging from full-contact karate, kickboxing, and boxing, but is most recognized as a mixed martial arts fighter (retired from competition 01-25-05). He is associated with Lion's Den Dallas. Guy has trained with many great martial arts competitors and trainer/instructors; his main trainers have been Vince Tamura (Judo), Willie Thompson (Wrestling), Billy "Jack" Jackson (Kickboxing), and Ken Shamrock (Submission Fighting/Pancrase/Mixed Martial Arts). His last scheduled match was to be against Tito Ortiz at UFC 50, but had to withdraw due to suffering stroke-like symptoms.[1]He is currently the Lead Director of the World Combat League[2], an event which focuses on multi-discipline full contact fighting.

Guy has written one book: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kickboxing" (Alpha Books).

Contents 1 UFC Career 2 PrideFC Career 3 Retirement 4 Records 5 Titles[5] 6 External links

[edit] UFC Career

Guy Mezger first competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors. Mezger competed against Jason Fairn as an alternate. Mezger scored a quick takedown, mounted Fairn, and landed a multitude of strikes, ending the fight fairly quickly. Mezger fought in UFC 5 against John Dowdy, defeating him by TKO in little over two minutes by mounted strikes. Guy Mezger would not return to the UFC until UFC 13: Ultimate Force, where he competed in the Lightweight Tournament(200 lbs & under). In his first bout, Mezger fought Judo fighter, Christophe Leninger. Leninger was able to score only one takedown and Leninger was quicly reversed, but was otherwise soundly beaten as Guy battled his way to a decision victory. Mezger then took on UFC newcomer and future superstar, Tito Ortiz. Mezger had already fought one fifteen minute bout, and Ortiz had won his previous bout in thirty seconds. Tito was able to score a takedown and landed several knees to Mezger's head. Mezger then tapped, but referee John McCarthy stopped the bout to instead check for cuts. The announcers, as well as Ortiz, that the bout was over, but the fight was instead restarted on the feet. Ortiz again shot in for a takedown, but Mezger secured a Guillotine Choke, forcing his opponent to submit.

Mezger's final bout in the UFC was a rematch with Tito Ortiz at UFC 19: Ultimate Young Guns. Ortiz dominated Mezger again, controlling the entire fight. At one point, Ortiz laughed as he was throwing punches to Mezger’s head, who wasn’t responding at all. At the 9:55 mark, the referee stopped that bout. Ortiz then donned a shirt that was insulting to Mezger which provoked an immediate reaction from Ken Shamrock, Mezger's trainer. In 2004 at UFC 50, Mezger and Ortiz were scheduled to have a third fight, but two weeks before UFC 50 Mezger suffered stroke-like symptoms and had to withdraw from the fight.

[edit] PrideFC Career

The former UFC champion made his debut at PRIDE 6 against Akira Shoji, a popular Japanese fighter, losing by a split decision. Pride officials then signed Mezger to fight Kazushi Sakuraba at the opening round of the Pride Grand Prix. The contract that Mezger signed stipulated that the fight would be one 15 minute round with no overtime. The other fights on the card had the same stipulation. The fight mostly consisted of Mezger playing only defense, which consisted of constantly retreating and throwing light jabs, obviously wary of Sauraba's takedowns. The round ended and Mezger expected the fight to go to the judges, but Pride officials wanted the fight to go to overtime. Stephen Quardros, one of the commentators, said "that's fair" in response to the additional round. The "ten kilo rule" was also in effect and favored Sakuraba. Guy and his corner refused, citing the conditions of the contract. An argument ensued and Mezger left the ring under instructions from his corner man, Ken Shamrock. Later that night the president of Pride FC made a public apology to Mezger at the Tokyo Dome. The loss still stands as recorded by Pride's official website. Mezger next competed against Masaaki Satake, handing the Japanese fighter his second straight loss by Unanimous Decision.

Mezger made his return to the ring at PRIDE 10, facing Brazilian superstar Wanderlei Silva. Mezger fought hard, cutting Silva and landing several crisp combinations, but was ultimately knocked out at the 3:45 mark. Mezger found a measure of redemption when he defeated Alexander Otsuka by TKO at PRIDE 12. Otsuka challenged Mezger to another fight, but was soundly beaten by TKO for a second time. Mezger returned again at Pride 13 to face Egan Inoue. Guy came out strong and walked away with a surprisingly easy knockout win over Inoue. Mezger then met Chuck Liddell at PRIDE 14. Liddell was coming off of a stunning KO over former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Kevin Randleman. Mezger dominated the first round, scoring a knockdown. The second round would be short-lived as Liddell came out strong, knocking Mezger out, sending him into convulsions that resulted in him being carried out on a stretcher.

Guy faced two time ADCC champion Ricardo Arona at PRIDE 16. Mezger entered the ring with an American flag draped across his shoulders out of respect for the World Trade Center attacks in New York. Mezger also wore trunks with an American flag design. Arona and Mezger circled each other for a few moments, before moving in and exchanging strikes. Mezger ended the round one scoring two takedowns and getting side mount position but could not capitalize on it. The second round was much of the same until Mezger landed a light kick to Arona's face. The kick did not knock Arona down but only fazed him for a second. The third round took a different turn with three minutes left in the round, Arona scored a strong takedown was able to get into Mezger's guard. The third round continued like this, with Arona laying on Mezger, throwing short, effective punches to Mezger's body and head, leaving Mezger so exhausted that he couldn't stand after the bell. The judges awarded a split decision victory to Arona.

Mezger returned to competition at PRIDE 22 after a year long lay-off, easily winning a decision over Norihisa Yamamoto. Mezger took his first fight back slowly, but completely dominated Yamamoto, cutting him and causing severe swelling on his face. Mezger then battled Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at PRIDE 24. Mezger had several good striking exchanges and showcased his submission and takedown defense, but lost the fight by split decision.

[edit] Retirement

[edit] Records

Mixed Martial Arts: 24-13-0 [3] (30-13-2-1 as listed by Full-Contact Fighter [htp;//fcfighter.com] 28-14-2 as listed by Sherdog [4])
Kickboxing: 22-3 (19 ko's)
Full-Contact Karate record: 42-1 (40 ko's)

[edit] Titles[5]

1995 WKC World Kickboxing Champion

1996 WFFF World Freestyle Fighting Champion (lightweight)

1996 Pancrase Ranking Tournament Champion

1997 Ultimate Fighting Championship 13 Lightweight Tournament Champion

1998 7th King of Pancrase

[edit] External links

• Full Contact Fighter Database with a partial record of Guy Mezger's MMA career
• Guy Mezger's Freestyle Martial Arts
• World Combat League

Previous winner Jerry Bohlander

UFC 13 Lightweight Tournament winner May 30, 1997

Next winner Pat Miletich