By Thomas Gerbasi

You could say Gabe Ruediger was working against a stacked deck from the start. Entering the world of professional fighting in October of 2002 at the age of 25, the native of Topanga Canyon, California, got a rude welcome in his first bout, getting stopped by Sam Wells.

All of a sudden, the dreams of soaring through the MMA world unbeaten and retiring at the top with some gaudy and unblemished record had disappeared, and for each subsequent fight, the aspiring mixed martial artist had to get over the stigma of being the 0-1 guy.

“To be honest, it took a lot of fights for people to realize that I had a skill set,” said Ruediger, who is 10-1 since that opening loss, and who is making his UFC debut on September 23rd against Melvin Guillard at UFC 63. “In the fight game, you’re only as good as your last fight, and a loss can hurt you. But for me, that loss taught me so much and I feel fortunate. I obviously didn’t want to lose, but it taught me about preparation and proper training techniques, about having a good corner, and there’s a whole aspect that came from losing that fight. I don’t want to say that losing is beneficial, but I would hope that people who do lose take it as part of the learning curve.”

After that fight, without the pressure of protecting an unbeaten record, Ruediger was allowed to learn the game at his own pace, while at the same time fighting tougher and tougher foes on the way up the ranks. And for him, that’s what the appeal of mixed martial arts always was – to have the opportunity to be tested, both in the gym and the ring.

“I had done traditional martial arts and really enjoyed it and then I started doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai and really liked that raw aspect to it,” said Ruediger, who started training seriously nine years ago. “It might sound cliché, but I’m really passionate about it. It’s become such a huge part of my life that I don’t feel normal when I’m not training and I don’t feel right when I don’t get that chance to test myself. Fighting just came from training full-time. I went once to test myself and I lost and it made me want to test myself even more and it just became a growing process. And I’m at a point now as far as my fight career is concerned that I just want to see how far I can go. I don’t need an ego boost, accolades, or people telling me how good I am. For me, it’s just the chance to test myself and do what I’m passionate about.”

In October of 2004, Ruediger got his biggest test to date in quirky, but always entertaining, Olaf Alonso in a bout for the WEC lightweight title. He passed, putting Alonso to sleep with a rear naked choke in the first round to earn his first championship belt.

Three successive wins followed, including the most important one in October of 2005 when he decisioned Wells, the first man to beat him. The scene was set for a worldwide coming out party for Ruediger, but then he ran into veteran contender Hermes Franca in March of this year.

On the attack from the start, Franca came out throwing right hand bombs, one of which crashed into Ruediger’s head. ‘Godzilla’ hit the deck and Franca pounced. Moments later the bout was halted, maybe a tad prematurely. All it took was 36 seconds. Ruediger was disappointed, but having already been through the pain of defeat, he’s able to look at the loss philosophically and not let it affect his future journey in MMA.

“Nobody’s unstoppable and nobody likes losing, and especially in that manner,” said Ruediger. “Do I think the stoppage was a little premature? Absolutely, but at the same time you just take it in stride and what I realized from that fight is that I had things I needed to work on. If I would have fought to the best of my ability, that wouldn’t have been an issue, so I take it in stride. I’ve lost twice now, and both my losses have been the biggest learning experiences for me. I would love to fight Hermes again, he’s a great competitor, but I take it in stride.”

With Ruediger and Franca both in the UFC, a rematch could be a possibility down the line, but first, the jiu-jitsu brown belt has to get by Guillard, which is no easy task.

“He’s obviously a very athletically gifted kid,” said Ruediger of ‘The Young Assassin’. “He’s got a wealth of experience for the time that he’s been fighting and I wouldn’t necessarily say that he’s fought a lot of top level competition in his career, but he’s tough as nails. I think his biggest issue is that he’s not polished. He has a lot of technical holes in every aspect of his game. In his striking he hits hard, but it’s not very clean or polished. Even his wrestling isn’t polished and his ground technique is where he’s most vulnerable because that’s where he loses most of his fights. I think that he’s going to be very well-prepared and I hope that he’s overconfident because that’s an added bonus for me. He is an athlete, and over time he’s going to progress very well, but I think I have the tools, as well as the mentality, to beat him.”

Comments like those have already become bulletin-board material for Guillard, but you get the impression that Ruediger wants his opponent to fight off emotion, perhaps leaving himself open to a fight ending submission.

“I like to push the pace, but at the same time I’m looking for any mistakes or errors that are made,” said Ruediger. “And when you’re not polished, you make errors, and I think that’s gonna be a benefit for me because that’s the way I fight – you make mistakes, I capitalize on them, and then I finish you. Obviously I can’t overlook his physicality, but I think all the other aspects are gonna come into play and that’s where I see the victory being.”

So from the sound of things, Ruediger isn’t too concerned about dealing with the pre-fight jitters many first time UFC fighters are forced to combat. In fact, for him, fighting in front of a packed house at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim will be just another day at the office.

“I’ve fought in some large promotions that have gotten national recognition, but the UFC, as far as the States are concerned, is the biggest promotion, and I don’t think I’ve ever fought in front of 16,000 people before,” he said. “It is business as usual because I’ve got a job to do and my job is to fight, but there’s added bonus of knowing that I have to come in as prepared as I’ve ever been. I know I have to present myself as the fighter that I am and that has given me a newfound pride in my training and all of my mental conditioning. It’s all just motivation for me. It’s my chance to really show that I deserve to be there against a good opponent, so for me, it’s motivation.”

After September 23rd, if Ruediger can get by Guillard, a wide open and talent-laden lightweight division awaits.

“There are a lot of fun and intriguing matchups, and I’m excited to be in the division,” he said. “I can’t even do an appropriate top ten because there are so many good guys. It’s a great time and I’m excited, but I’m taking it just one step at a time. I’ll deal with Melvin and then I’ll deal with whoever’s next.”

And while for those of us who aren’t fighters, the prospect of dealing with the likes of Pulver, Sherk, Florian, Edwards, Guillard, Fisher, Stout, Hominick, Stevenson, Franca and Gurgel on a fight to fight basis would be a daunting prospect, for guys like Gabe Ruediger, it’s what gets him out of bed in the morning to train every day.

“I would hope that if you want to fight, you’d want to test yourself and your abilities, and this is a great division in which to do so,” he said. “I would hope that you would never run from a weight category just because of competition.”