colintimberlake.comTell her it wasn’t you…

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