YAKIMA -- It was his knee the borrowed 500-pound scissor-lift actually landed upon on Dec. 29, the day the Valley's preeminent mixed martial arts warrior saw his comeback path abruptly derailed. But when, stoked by pain, fear and adrenaline, he wrenched the lift off his legs and threw it aside, the problem became something else entirely.

Rich Guerin's back.

So much for that obstacle.

Rich Guerin's back -- in the fighting cage, that is -- headlining tonight's MMA show at Yakama Nation Legends Casino. His bout with unbeaten Jordan Smith of Chicago will be one of four professional contests on the card, along with a half-dozen amateur bouts. Ticket prices are $20 and $30.

It's been only five months since Guerin underwent back surgery to repair nerve damage resulting from that scissor-lift accident, and he still has limited feeling in his left leg. It has also been two years since he fought what was to be his swan-song match, after which he announced his retirement.

But tonight, at 37 -- an age at which his wife and coach would both rather see him focusing on his burgeoning gym -- Guerin will be back in the cage tonight against a foe who is not only a decade younger, but also undefeated.

And Guerin is so nervous about it that, well, you can practically hear him yawn.

"Physically, I'm top-notch," says Guerin, who says he stays in peak shape by running his Yakima Mixed Martial Arts gym and training with its growing number of pro and amateur MMA competitors.

"I don't focus too much on what (opponents) do, because I feel I'm at a level where they need to be more worried about what I'm going to do with them. Not in a cocky or overconfident way but, quite frankly, I'm good enough at everything that if you've got me in one area in the cage, I'm probably going to have you in two or three areas."

Promoters give Smith's record as 8-0. Guerin's is reported as 13-9, a record he says is way off; he says his professional record is 25-4 and that he was 25-5 (or 26-5) as an amateur. He attributes the discrepancy to his many matches in foreign countries or in other promotions in which results went unreported to MMA organizations.

"I'm not looking past this kid by any means. Anybody's who

undefeated in MMA is somebody you have to look seriously at," Guerin says. "I just don't think he's fought anybody like me. I'm a decent wrestler, I'm a decent striker, and I'm a really excellent jujitsu practicioner. Most guys at his level are strong at one thing."

It wasn't all that long ago that Guerin didn't figure to be strong at anything, due to the scissor-lift accident that occurred while he was trying to remove the old marquee from his new gym location on W. Yakima Avenue.

One spinal disc was "compressed so violently that the interior shot out through my spine, through my sciatic nerve and pinched it off completely," Guerin says. "I was basically without much of a left leg and hip -- they were completely numb. Unbelievable. In all of the years of training and injuries, I'd never felt anything like that before."

Through surgery and rehabilitation, Guerin says he's got "about 80 percent" of that feeling back -- but he's at 100 percent when it comes to the desire to get back in the cage. He says he's been having "the itch" to return to MMA competition for more than a year, partly because, he says, "It's just not enough to be pushing my fighters in the gym."

Several of those fighters will be on tonight's amateur card, including Conan Northwind, Gonzalo Garcia and Jake Trovillo. On the pro card is a former protege of Guerin's, Sterling Ford.

Also on that card, of course, is Guerin himself, though his wife, Julie, and coach Anthony Hamlett would both prefer to see him stick to coaching.

"He's just being pulled in so many directions," says Julie Guerin, noting that she and her husband are about to open a second MMA gym in Kennewick and also promote MMA shows at local venues, including Yakima Valley Community College.

"He's 37, and he's already fought for so many years," Julie says. "He still has the fire to compete, though. I think he's so addicted to being in that competition state, to being ready. But I can't ask ... he can't quit for me. He can't quit for Anthony. He has to quit on his own terms."