Guy later joined the Lion’s Den gym in California after meeting Ken Shamrock at UFC 3, and has been training at both the San Diego and Dallas branches for about a decade. "We all come together to train at both Lion’s Dens, but most of the Lion’s Den guys run their own gyms."

And Mezger is no exception, operating his gym, which is located inside the Landmark Fitness Factory at 12740 Merit Drive, Dallas, where Guy offers a wide variety of styles including Thai boxing, freestyle karate and Lion’s Den submission classes.

On October 22, Guy will be fighting in the main event against Tito Ortiz at UFC 50: The War of ’04. And whilst Tito is an athlete known for his superb fitness, Guy is taking this bout very seriously, having come out of retirement especially for the opportunity to wage war against Ortiz for a third time. But Mezger is giving little away on his own fitness level for the battle.

"Well, my fitness better be enough, is all I can say. I mean, Tito has great conditioning, so the secret to fighting Tito would be to be in good shape. If I’m not in good shape, I’m going to lose the fight."

Many MMA fans believe Guy could have the edge on Tito as a striker, but Ortiz believes he is a more well-rounded fighter, believing his ground skills to be superior to Mezger’s. But Guy, a former King of Pancrase, is not overly impressed with Tito’s ground techniques:

"Tito does not have much of a ground game: He’s more of a ground’n’pound guy. But he’s a physically very strong guy, and he knows how to avoid submissions. He has a way of eliminating a lot of pressure holds, so what he does he does very well. What I have to do is do what I do well, and make the fight go the way I want it to go."

Mezger suggests the pressure is on Ortiz coming into the UFC 50 match, having lost his last two fights to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell. "There’s a lot at stake for Tito. Basically, I’ve been in retirement for the last year and a half to two years, and I’ve been wanting this fight for seven years. Finally, they’ve given me the chance. But, to be honest, I have nothing to lose, and Tito has everything to lose. I think there’s a little more at stake for him than for me."

With Tito’s last Octagon victory being over Ken Shamrock, it may seem Shamrock would have extra reason for wanting Guy to win. "Ken is a very competitive man. And he rejoices in his own victories. But the only things he probably rejoices more in are the victories of his students."

When Mezger defeated Ortiz at UFC 13: The Ultimate Force, Tito vowed he would never be submitted again by that hold. However, Guy says he does not intend going for that choke in particular against Ortiz in UFC 50, even to prove a point.

"Well, to be honest, I doubt I’ll be able to get him in one. There may not be an opportunity to really do it. But if he makes a mistake, and leaves something for me to take, I’ll take it. That’s not a problem to me: If he gives something up, I’m going to take it."

"I think it’s stupid really. It shows his immaturity, is all it does. You know, I think he thinks it’s cool - and it’s not. One thing, he’s trying to be Tank Abbott, and Tank Abbott is better at being Tank Abbott than anybody. And I feel sorry for Tito because it makes him look foolish, and the type of people who think it ‘s cool are idiots. It’s almost like you feel sorry for him and you want to give him a hug."

"You know, I don’t know. It’s one of those situations where I’m preparing to go the full three rounds, but…The only way he’s going to stop me is if he gets lucky, and gets me with an elbow cut. He’s not going to be able to knock me out, and he’s not going to be able to submit me. All he’s going to be able to do is try to ground’n’pound me, and cut me so they have to stop the fight.

"I, on the other hand, have knockout power and submission capabilities. So he has to worry more about my winning the fight early. I don’t cut that easily, so if he doesn’t catch me perfectly with one of those elbows, that’s the point where I’m going to knock him out."

"To tell you the truth, I haven’t seen St. Pierre fighting, but I personally think Matt Hughes is a very tough fighter. And if I were a betting man right off the bat here, I might say that I believe it would be Matt Hughes, but then I haven’t seen Georges fight."

"Well, it’s going to be a tough fight. This match pulled me out of retirement, and I’ve been asking for the fight for seven years. If Tito takes me lightly, he’s going to be in for a big surprise."

"No!"

For more on Guy Mezger and his gym details: www.guymezger.com

For more on UFC 50: www.ufc.tv

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