MMA: San Jacinto's Guzman plays waiting game

photo credit: William Wilson Lewis III / The Press-Enterprise
Greg Guzman (left), who fights in Sunday's MMA card at Citizens Business Bank Arena, spars with Curtis Tomkins during a November workout.

MMA: San Jacinto's Guzman plays waiting game

Thursday, January 21, 2010
By BREANNA ARMSTRONG
Special to The Press-Enterprise

It has been three and half months since Greg Guzman's last mixed martial arts fight.

It has been nearly two and half months since the former San Jacinto High wrestler was supposed to get back in the cage.

What has Guzman done with all that time between bouts?

Train.

Six days a week.

Welcome to the life of an MMA fighter.

As he writes on the bio of his Web page (www.gregguzman.com): "You're either going to experience pain in the training room or in the cage. You have to choose one or the other."

Guzman, 21, finally returns to the cage Sunday night when the CalledOut MMA II event, postponed from November, takes place at Ontario's Citizens Business Bank Arena.

"I was really looking forward to fighting my last opponent," he said, referring to the original Nov. 14 date with since replaced Chad George, who moved over to World Extreme Cagefighting. "But since that fell through (I) couldn't do much but ... just keep training."

Guzman (7-3) will face Jared Papazian (5-4) in the 135-pound division on the Sunday card, which is headlined by the match between UFC and King of the Cage fighter Alberto Crane (12-4) and Albert Rios (11-4). The first bout is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Guzman, who trains out of Pinnacle Jiu Jitsu in Redlands, said his participation on the high school wrestling team inspired him to fight professionally.

"I started fighting professionally three years ago with my wrestling coach, Stan Holmes, as my only source of training," Guzman said. "I trained out of my garage. I didn't have a team or a gym to train out of until I started at Pinnacle. It's really great over here; it's a nice gym and has tough guys."

Guzman fought against current teammate Reuben Duran in the "King of the Cage: Superstars" fight in August. Duran won the bout by unanimous decision. After the fight, Jake Behney, Duran's trainer and the owner of Pinnacle, invited Guzman to join their fight team. He has been training with the Pinnacle team ever since.

"Greg has a positive attitude and great work ethic, he never complains and he puts everything he has into training," Behney said. "He is a very well-rounded fighter and is a pleasure to work with."

Guzman hasn't had a fight since October 3, when he defeated Chris Wolf by submission 2:21 into the first round. Of his 10 fights, six haven't lasted beyond the first round. The others have gone three rounds.

"Jared seems tough, looks like he's not scared to stand up and throw," Guzman said of Papazian, Sunday's opponent, who last fought December 18.

"I feel like I am in the best shape of my life," said Papazian, who has slimmed down to 135. "I'm ready for Guzman. It's going to be a high-pace fight. He is great at jiu-jitsu and a very good fighter. This will be war."