· Guy Mezger ~ Retirement, Coaching, And Nutrition

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 06/14 at 11:24 AM

A veteran of both the UFC and Japan's Pride Fighting Championships, Guy Mezger has been present from the very beginning of the sport. Throughout his 17-year career, which included a UFC championship, Mezger continually set the bar high not only for his competitors, but for the overall growth of mixed martial arts. Even now, after his competitive career has ended, Mezger is still impacting the sport’s present and future.

Mezger has been a MMA instructor for 22 years. He owns one of the largest MMA gyms in Texas, Guy Mezger's Combat Sports Club, and still has time to be the president of HDNet Fights, the selection of combat sports programming broadcast by HDNet.

MMA Spot's Breanna Armstrong had the recent pleasure of meeting up with Mezger to discuss what's going on with him, personally and professionally. In between praising his family, his wife Michelle—and convincing one of his three sons to take a break from grappling so that he would go to his soccer game—Mezger had the time to discuss his "retirement," his thoughts on the evolution of MMA, and the important role supplements and nutrition play in the careers of today's fighters.

After retiring from the UFC, Mezger explains that period in his life as an “adjustment.”

“It was an adjustment, I was a pro fighter before MMA came along, fighting in boxing, kick boxing and karate. It was an adjustment from going to being an athlete with that regiment to for lack of better terms, a civilian. I was at the top and it was one of those situations to go to the adjustment of being a normal guy.

"A lot of the adjustment was made easy because I fought for 17 years, I started having my children again (my son Logan was on the way) and my oldest son, Jake, had to deal with that. The fighting business is a selfish business; it is all about you, you, you, you. There was a little bit of a sting when I first retired, but I have always been a part of martial arts,” Mezger stated.

Now as an observer of UFC, Mezger reflects on the major differences and transformations of MMA, from when he first started competing.

“It has changed drastically, when I was in the UFC, there were no rules, no weight class, no time limits, it was not a sport, it was a spectacle. It was a tournament, now there are weight classes and safety equipment. They had a wrestler fighting a boxer, a jiu-jitsu guy fighting a wrestler. And now, there is a mixed martial art athlete. In such a short amount of time, it went from guys not knowing what to do to being top athletes,” he said.

“I still follow the UFC, one of my favorite fighters is George St-Pierre. He is a class act, he is a top athlete and he respects his opponents. He is my favorite one to watch. Anderson Silva is also one of my favorites,” added Mezger.

As a public figure of MMA, many fighters look up to Mezger. “The reaction that these guys have when they meet me is very humbling,” he said.

Mezger’s number one advice to fighters is to keep up with nutrition. He explains that when he was 20, he use to eat whatever he wanted because he had 5 percent body fat. Given the development of strength and conditioning in MMA, especially for the athletes at the elite level, Mezger has recently endorsed the natural athletic performance enhancement supplement called Evolv.

“Trey White, is the owner of the company, he is a friend of mine who lives here in Dallas. I get a lot of people trying to get me to endorse their product, but I don’t like to endorse anything that I can’t stand behind,” he said.

This hydrating supplement helps filter vitamins straight to where your body needs them the most. The best part about this supplement is that it is completely natural and legal to use. “Steroids do not make champions,” said Mezger. Using legal supplements is one of the most important pieces of advice that he gives to fighters.

Through his memorable professional fighting career, through the lives that he has touched in being a coach and through being able to balance his career and his family, Guy Mezger is truly one of the best products of MMA.