colintimberlake.comTell her it wasn’t you…

TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
RAY MERCER

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man
who achieved great things in boxing as a young man and then, at 48, went on to achieve something pretty unique in mixed martial arts.

Ray Mercer’s boxing career began with a monumental achievement, winning the boxing gold medal as a heavyweight at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

He defeated Francesco Damiani in 1991 to become the WBO heavyweight champion, and followed this up with a victorious title defense against Tommy Morrison.

Over the course of his career, he faced many of the best in the game, including Lennox Lewis, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield, Tim Witherspoon, Shannon Briggs and Wladimir Klitschko.

Following his boxing career, Mercer dabbled in kickboxing and MMA, with relatively lacklustre performances due to the combination of age and lack of cross-disciplinary training in martial arts other than boxing.

However, at the age of 48, an unusual opportunity landed at Mercer’s feet. Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, aged 33, wanted to make a transition into boxing and desired the aged Mercer as his first opponent.

It seemed a bizarre matchup, since Mercer was well past his prime and had not performed well in his latest outings. Also at 6′8″ and 315 pounds, Sylvia had an enormous size advantage and was in his physical prime. The only advantage Mercer had, it seemed, was boxing experience, as the younger Sylvia was walking into his sport.

Then, just a day or two before the fight was to occur, the fighters were notified that the event would not be sanctioned as a boxing match. The only way it could continue was if it was switched to a mixed martial arts fight, thus permitting kicks, elbows, submissions and wrestling takedowns.

Mercer agreed to the new rules, with what seemed to be a gentleman’s agreement that they would keep the fight to primarily boxing techniques. Now, the fight was even more bizarre. A mixed martial arts world champion with an enormous height, weight and youth advantage, was fighting MMA against a 50-pushing boxer with relatively little training or experience in kickboxing, jiu-jitsu or wrestling, and who had been preparing for this fight with boxing techniques only.

Needless to say, Sylvia was expected to dispatch Mercer shortly after the opening bell, in a match that would serve little purpose other than to confirm that young MMA fighters will do better in MMA than old boxers.

Well, the fight was over shortly after the opening bell, as predicted, but it was Ray Mercer whose hand was being raised in victory after delivering a nine-second knockout over the towering giant. Tim Sylvia had opened the match with a leg kick, thus initiating the non-boxing elements of the MMA match, and as he approached, Mercer felled him immediately with a hook and proceeded to jump on Sylvia and finish the fight with the MMA technique of ground-and-pound.

The result was probably the greatest upset in MMA history, a victory for middle-aged athletes, and possibly the end of Sylvia’s career as an elite MMA heavyweight.

TODAY: BACK (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)
and SHOULDERS (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)

CLOSE GRIP MACHINE PULLDOWNS (3 sets)
200 x 12
300 x 8
300 x 6

WIDE GRIP FRONT CABLE PULLDOWNS (3 sets)
180 x 10
225 x 4
225 x 4

WIDE GRIP REAR CABLE PULLDOWNS (3 sets)
150 x 10
180 x 10
180 x 8

CLOSE GRIP CABLE ROWS (3 sets)
130 x 12
160 x 10
200 x 7

WIDE GRIP CABLE ROWS (3 sets)
130 x 10
150 x 8
150 x 8

ARNOLD DUMBBELL PRESS (4 sets)
40 x 10
60 x 5
60 x 5
60 x 4

MACHINE SHOULDER PRESS (per arm) (3 sets)
70 x 12
120 x 4
100 x 7

DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISES (3 sets)
20 x 12
20 x 12
20 x 10

DUMBBELL FORWARD RAISES (3 sets)
20 x 12
20 x 15
20 x 12

BENT OVER DUMBBELL REAR DELT FLYES (3 sets)
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Back): 15
Total Sets (Shoulders): 16

BACK TO Index of Inspirational Role Models for Training

Ray Mercer? The world heavyweight boxing champion? What is Ray Mercer the boxing champ doing in the MMA Mental Hall of Fame?

Have no fear. “Merciless” Ray Mercer has earned his spot as one of the great MMA Mentals and is not simply being given the status of Mental Case Greatness based on his history as a legendary boxer. Ray Mercer entered mixed martial arts, apparently having no idea that there was a difference between mixed martial arts and boxing.

And then, when he had his ass handed to him via the use of techniques other than punching, he then continued with his mixed martial arts career, still apparently having no idea that there was a difference between mixed martial arts and boxing.

At UFC 1, the very first North American MMA tournament in 1993, a sumo wrestler named Teila Tuli stepped into the Octagon with kickboxer Gerard Gordeau. Twenty-six seconds into the match, Gordeau kicked Tuli in the face, knocking out some teeth. Tuli seemed to be in disbelief that his opponent had actually used these unfamiliar techniques and became so noncombative that the referee paused the fight to check on him. The fight was called off.

This was 1993 and the North American public really had no idea what to expect at the time. Tuli had never really done anything but sumo wrestle so somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he hadn’t really acknowledged the real possibility of being kicked in the face. He can be forgiven.

Ray Mercer can’t. Mixed martial arts had been around for a good 12 years by the time he stepped into the ring for a kickboxing match with Remy Bonjansky in 2005. Had Mercer even watched UFC 1, he would have been at least prepared with the knowledge that this would not be a straight boxing match.

The result? Opening Bell. Pawing jab by Ray Mercer. Head kick by Bonjansky. Ray Mercer can’t believe he was going to face high kicks in this kickboxing match. Cued by Mercer’s disbelief, the referee steps in and stops the fight. Mercer leaves the ring, still apparently unable to comprehend the possibility of kicks being thrown in a kickboxing match. The fans were thrilled.

Two years later, and apparently none the wiser, Ray Mercer stepped into the cage with Kimbo Slice for a full-fledged MMA exhibition match. The fight went something like this: Opening bell, Kimbo Slice takes Mercer down, Kimbo Slice taps out Mercer with guillotine choke. Elapsed time: Not sure, I didn’t have time to reach for my stopwatch to press ’start.’

Again, all of this said, Ray Mercer was a fantastic boxer. But Royce Gracie is a great practitioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I doubt he would step into the ring with Roy Jones Jr. for a straight boxing match without accounting for the possibility that Roy would be throwing actual punches…

And don’t get me wrong, a Remy Bonjansky kick to the head definitely has the capacity to stun, disorient or concuss a man or a small elephant. So I am sure Mr. Mercer was, at least on some level, a little more aware than Teila Tuli of the reality that there would be more than punches thrown in his brief 2005 matchup. But the complete lack of any indication that Mercer had trained in even rudimentary kick defense suggested that the contemplation of this reality was cursory at the very best.

Return to the MMA MENTAL HALL OF FAME