Tyler McGuire prepares for next MMA fight

After claiming a win in just over a minute in his first-ever Mixed Martial Arts fight, Mt. Pleasant?s Tyler McGuire, 25, is going back for round two.

He will fight in the Extreme Challenge 201, again at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, on Jan. 14.

He doesn?t know yet whom he will be fighting, and he also says that it doesn?t matter ? he?s ready for anything.

McGuire?s first MMA fight was on Aug. 27. At that time, he had been training in MMA on and off for about two years, and had started working on it more consistently through the summer, getting workouts in four days of the week.

In that first fight, he clinched a win in one minute, 14 seconds by submission.

Now he can only hope that his second fight goes as well.

?I?ve put in just as much time and effort, and now I?m a more experienced, better fighter,? he said. ?But you never really know in this sport.?

After the last fight, he took about three weeks off, and then started training twice a week, working himself back into top shape.

?Like Gabe (Lemley) says, you can?t have your body in peak physical condition all the time ? that?s how injuries happen,? McGuire said.

He speculates that even if his last contest hadn?t gone as well as it did, he would still have gone back to training and would still fight again.

?I?m pretty competitive by nature, and this is something I love doing,? he said. ?I love working out with the guys. I?ve got a good support system.?

The guys he works out with are Gabe Lemley of Lowell, Jordan Ritz and Parnell Davis of Mt. Pleasant, and now, Dekota Job of New London.

Davis will also be competing on Jan. 14 in Burlington.

He will be participating in the ?Eight-Man Super Fight Series Heavyweight Tournament,? which begins that night.

For more information on Davis and his upcoming fight, as well as the other MMA fighters, see upcoming issues of the Mt. Pleasant News.