Next up on the local scene- The Phenom, Javier Guzman

Youngbowl with the old heads, Galeano, Guzman, Winkler and Alvarez

It is the mission of ThirpopMMA to record the development of Philly’s local MMA scene. In an effort to galvanize the remarkable transition that scene has made over the last two years, we begin an irregular series of video interviews with the people who are making, have made or will make Philadelphia and its periphery the east coast hub for MMA talent.  

The first installment is a bit rough due to my abhorrent video production growing pains but the subject matters in a big way. Javier Guzman is an 18 year old who has been training for a career in the sport since the age of four. We sat down for a long talk with Guzman to learn about a kid who - while still in high school - is training MMA full time and taking fights with grown men. This alone makes him a story but there is a larger justification for such an extensive interview. Guzman is an athlete who grew up dreaming of being an MMA fighter, not a baseball player or football star and whether he succeeds or not, his aspirations are the evolution of a sport that was little more then a novelty when Guzman himself was born. 

His explosion on the scene not only indicates a swell in the talent pool locally; his story represents the transition that MMA is making nationally as the sport begins to co-opt  athletic talent from the big-four sports at earlier and earlier ages, in this case, fighting took hold at the very beginning of an athletic career. 

“Javy” turned 18 on April 11^th 2011, 11 days later he has standing across the cage from a full grown man trained in one of the fiercest gyms in the city. The fight was one-sided (read the recap in the Matrix 4 coverage), Guzman closed the distance and picked his opponent off with his hands, as we would expect from a Golden Glove Champ. We didn’t expect Guzman, who spent most of his life training with Tiger Schullmann’s MMA, to take it to the ground and submit his opponent with an omoplata. This is a testament to his current school, the newly opened Philadelphia Fight Sports, where he has been training with coaches Anthony Galeano and Mike Winkler for only six months.

Guzman cinches the onoplata

A one in a million athlete grows - literally - right in front of your eyes- which he is why by the end of our interview Javy’s head is partially out of the camera frame. It is of course his explosive growth spurt and not my garbage video production skills to blame for that. Thank you all-in-one camera stand/sawsall/change counter, there does have to be a better way.

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Guzman gives his basic stats and talks about spending the last 14 years training at Tiger Schullmann's MMA and the last six months training at Philadelphia Fight Sports.

Convincing the commission to give him his first sanctioned fight, 2 weeks after his 18th birthday, took some effort and just how committed is he?

His primal roots as a biter of anyone who got close to his legos, and the worst beat-down he got outside of the gym almost cracked his sterum but doesn't compare to fighting professionals who actually know how to eat with their hands.

The game plan going in and the blow by blow account. Being in the cage in front of his people was the happiest moment of his life. 

His next fight, what weight will he end up at? Church habits and shout-outs- he freaked that he forgot to thank coach Anthony Galeano, that should make for a fun cardio session on Monday, no?