Melvin Guillard - No Excuses

“Like I told everybody in 2010, I want to win every fight in 2010, put myself in title contention, and in 2011 I want to win my title.” Some women want diamonds or furs. Tache Guillard wants gold from her husband Melvin.

“One thing she always tells me is that I owe her a championship belt, and when I win that belt, it’s for her,” said the UFC lightweight contender, who kicks off his 2011 campaign in the Octagon this Saturday against Evan Dunham.

Putting Guillard and championship belt in the same sentence would have gotten you some funny looks just a few years ago, when bouts with drugs and partying seemingly had the Louisiana native destined to be a cautionary tale to future UFC fighters. Even he wouldn’t have believed it if you told him back then that he eventually would make a complete 180 in his life.

“No, I wouldn’t have believed them at all,” he said. “I’ve been through so many ups and downs in my career, and in my personal life, and one thing I always remember is that (UFC President) Dana (White) has always been good to me and he’s always been honest with me. And Dana sat me down one time a while back and he said ‘kid, you have all the talent in the world, and we like you. Don’t throw it away.’ And for my boss to come and tell me that they really care for me, that’s an honorable thing for me, and if my boss believes in me, why shouldn’t I believe in myself? I’m my own worst enemy. If I mess myself out of this, it’s because I did something. But I’m just so happy that I got to see what I was doing wrong.”

For that, he owes a debt of gratitude to a small but tight-knit army that begins with his bride of two years, who he met in Houston while training for his 2007 bout against Joe Stevenson.

“I give a lot of credit to my wife,” said Guillard. “There were times I’ve been wanting to fall back into that dark hole and get back to drugs and all that and just having a supportive wife to keep me occupied and away from the negative people, I think that’s probably been one of the best qualities that I have. Being married is new to me, but it’s definitely something that I love. I love being married. My wife has really kept me on my toes and kept my head in the game.”

The change wouldn’t come overnight though. Guillard would lose to Stevenson, then to Rich Clementi, leaving the talented prospect with a mediocre 3-3 record. He would be suspended after the Stevenson fight after testing positive for cocaine, and in 2008, he spent two and a half months in jail on a parole violation. Throw on top that he was still reeling from the death of his father and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but eventually, he snapped out of his funk thanks to some final words from his dad.

“Before my dad passed away, I was able to sit down with him one on one for that last time and he told me, ‘at the end of the day, always be a man and carry yourself the way I raised you,’” recalled Guillard. “And I always think back on those words. At the time he passed away, I blamed his death for a lot of my drug use and this and that, but my dad always told me never live on excuses. So I lived it down. Now looking back on it, I did drugs and I partied because I chose to do it. Nobody ever made me do anything, and one good quality about me is that I never followed anybody. If I chose to do something, it was because I wanted to do it. Yeah, I used my dad’s death as an excuse for a long time, but looking back at it now, I don’t think it was because he passed away, I think it was because I chose to go out and do drugs and party instead of looking at the bigger picture. And when I almost lost my job, I had to tell myself, I fought all my life to be a UFC fighter, and this was a dream of mine since I was a 14-year old kid. Do I really want to throw my dream away on an eight ball of coke or going out drinking with friends who weren’t really friends?”

The funny thing is, while Guillard was going through this turmoil and getting a bad rep from fans, behind the scenes, he was just Melvin, an affable young man who was quick with a laugh and always willing to tell his story, warts and all. To those who knew him, the guy they were reading about wasn’t the same one they knew in everyday life. So when Guillard joined up with Greg Jackson and his team in Albuquerque, it may have shocked outsiders, but not those close to the fighter.

“A lot of people always had that misconception of me,” he said. “I’m a different person in the cage. When I step in the cage, I step in as “The Young Assassin”. That was why I nicknamed myself that. When I’m home and I’m out and about, I’m Melvin. Fighting is my job. I’m a normal person at the end of the day, and I don’t feel famous. I just have a job that everybody loves to see me do. And for a long time a lot of people got a misconception of me, but I think now people are changing their thoughts about me because I’m here in Albuquerque. Being trained by Greg Jackson and carrying myself the way GSP (Georges St-Pierre) carries himself, that reflects on people, and people see that. Now I’m still not gonna get rid of my bad boy side, because that’s the part of me that wins fights. I have to have that edge for me to go in and win fights. But it’s not about me being a bad guy outside the cage; outside the cage I’m going to conduct myself like a respectable young man.”

And inside of it, the change has been nothing short of miraculous. No longer relying on his fight-ending power to win fights, Guillard has used his wits as well as his fists to put together a 3-0 run in 2010, as he defeated Ronys Torres, Waylon Lowe, and Jeremy Stephens. A lot of that has to do with his maturity, and a lot has to do with Jackson, and together, they’ve sailed into title contention.

“I just feel that since I’ve been here, I’m more confident and I’m more confident in what I do as far as engaging in certain fights and staying calm,” said Guillard. “I’ve been here for a year and I’ve been more focused and more calm than I’ve ever been in my whole entire career.”

Now he’s put himself in a prime spot on Saturday, as he steps in to replace the injured Kenny Florian against Dunham. Not only does he get to fight in a nationally televised main event against a top level opponent, but in fighting Dunham, he was able to avoid meeting up with one of his MMA mentors, original foe Yves Edwards (who will now fight Cody McKenzie Saturday).

“I didn’t want to fight Yves, he’s a longtime friend and mentor, and he’s a guy I look up to,” said Guillard. “I’ll fight any guy if I have to, but it was just one of those fights where I wasn’t really happy with it because I felt like there were so many other guys that I could fight, why fight a guy that I trained with who was one of my best training partners for four years? This guy knows me like the back of his hand and I thought that would have been a bad fight for me. I didn’t want to give the UFC a boring fight because it would have been a technical fight. I couldn’t make a mistake and I wouldn’t have been as explosive, so I was happy when they switched my fight to Evan Dunham. I feel right now that he (Dunham) is in title contention. So for them to give me that fight, they must feel the same way about me. I’m taking this fight as a number one contender fight. I’m looking at this as after this fight, I should be fighting for a title, whether it’s (Anthony) Pettis or it’s (Frankie) Edgar, I should be fighting for a title.”

It’s been a long time coming for Guillard, and while his wait will be even longer considering that the next two lightweight title fights will be the Edgar-Gray Maynard rematch and the winner of that bout against Pettis, he’ll deal with it. Life is good right now, so why not enjoy the ride?

“Like I told everybody in 2010, I want to win every fight in 2010, put myself in title contention, and in 2011 I want to win my title,” he said. “That’s what I’m putting myself in position for. Now if that doesn’t happen and I don’t get my title shot, I will go another year undefeated, that’s my ultimate goal. But right now, my mindset is to win every fight and put myself in a title fight before the end of the year.”

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Louisiana Lightning – Guillard KO’s Dunham in One

Click below for the main event report from Saturday's UFC Fight For The Troops 2 card... KILLEEN, TX, January 22 – “Young Assassin” indeed. Longtime lightweight talent Melvin Guillard delivered a defining performance in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight For The Troops 2 card at Fort Hood, stopping highly-regarded Evan Dunham with a blistering mix of speed and power that announced his arrival as a major player at 155 pounds. See post-fight interview

The upset garnered Guillard a $30,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.

“I want my title shot,” said Guillard, who won his third in a row. “Keep lining them up and I’ll keep knocking them down. I will go undefeated in 2011.”

After the ritual touch of gloves, Dunham kicked off the action with a kick, but it was Guillard who landed a big right hand that got the Oregonian’s attention. Dunham immediately shot for a takedown, and eventually got. Guillard fought his way back to his feet and tagged Dunham with a series of punches, reddening his face. Calm in the pocket, Guillard danced around and shot in with dynamite when the opening presented itself. That opening came midway through the round, as another right hand stunned Dunham and dropped him. Dunham looked for the takedown but it was nowhere to be found. Instead, Guillard drilled his foe with a left knee to the head that staggered him once again. Dunham started to fall to the canvas and Guillard wouldn’t let him off the hook, prompting referee Mario Yamasaki to halt the bout at 2:58 of the opening round.

With the win, Guillard ups his record to 45-9-3 with 1 NC; Dunham falls to 11-2.

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Melvin Guillard - Seven Defining Moments

Covering Melvin Guillard over the past five years has never been dull. In and out of the Octagon, “The Young Assassin” has survived a rollercoaster ride that would have crippled lesser men. Covering Melvin Guillard over the past five years has never been dull. In and out of the Octagon, “The Young Assassin” has survived a rollercoaster ride that would have crippled lesser men. But he’s still standing, still fighting, and headlining January 22nd’s Fight for The Troops 2 card in Texas against Evan Dunham. But before we look back at how Guillard got here, here’s a quote from 2006 which captured how the Louisiana native was looking at his fight career.

“I have the attitude that I’ll fight anybody because when I’m old or I’m gone, I want to be remembered as the Muhammad Ali of MMA,” said Guillard. “I want to be known as a legend, I want to be on the wall of the UFC Training Center. That’s my goal now. I want people to say, ‘Man, that kid was a damn good fighter. He left it all in the ring and fought with heart and determination.’ It’s not about the money to me. Yes, I want to make a living doing this and I want to become rich being a fighter, but I’m not fighting for the money. I want to be remembered in the ages. That’s my biggest thing.”

Josh Neer - UFC Fight Night - January 16, 2006
Result – Neer Wsub1
A veteran of the local circuit, Guillard got introduced to the world through season two of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005, and after living through Hurricane Katrina, he made his UFC debut at welterweight against hard-nosed Iowan Josh Neer. Guillard was impressive, dominating the action and cutting Neer. It appeared that the fight was about to be stopped when Guillard surprised everyone by taking Neer down. Moments later, Neer pulled off the miracle comeback, submitting Guillard via triangle choke.

“I only took Neer down to try and work that cut some more so that they would stop it,” said Guillard after the bout. “Had I known that (that the doctor probably would have stopped it between rounds), I would have just stayed on my feet and just kept swinging for another minute and a half. He couldn’t hurt me.”

“I was upset, but I wasn’t confused about the loss because I know, being a fighter, that the fight’s not over till it’s over,” he continued. “I’ve seen guys get the crap beat out of ‘em for ten minutes of a fight, and then in the last five minutes they pull a rabbit out of their hat. That’s the nature of this business; it’s a chess match.”

Rick Davis – UFC 60 – May 27, 2006
Result – Guillard KO1
Four months after the Neer bout, Guillard was pitted against unbeaten Rick Davis in the UFC 60 opener. This one wasn’t even close, as Guillard – back to his natural fighting weight of 155 - drilled Davis with everything but the ring stool. A left hand put Davis down for the first time 1:20 into the round, and seconds later a right hand sent his down face first, ending the bout at the 1:37 mark. The win made an immediate statement that if you wanted to throw hands with Guillard, you did so at your own peril. Davis never fought professionally again.

Joe Stevenson – UFC Fight Night – April 5, 2007
Result – Stevenson Wsub1
The win over Davis and a subsequent body punch knockout of Gabe Ruediger four months later got the buzz going pretty heavy on Guillard, and in response, the UFC put him in a UFC Fight Night main event against his Ultimate Fighter castmate Joe Stevenson. The bout barely got started when Stevenson rocked Guillard, took him down and submitted him. 27 seconds was all it took. What was worse that Guillard, already dealing with the death of his father, tested positive for cocaine after the bout and was suspended.
“After getting suspended I hit rock bottom even harder,” said Guillard of life after the Stevenson fight. “I was in a bigger depression and I was mad at myself, but I was even more upset because I felt like I had embarrassed my family. I didn’t care what people thought about me, and I’m still like that – I don’t care about the negative talk. I get on the internet and I see all the slander – they made a little video clip and I laughed it off, but on the inside it hurt because I hurt my fans, I embarrassed my family, and I embarrassed the UFC. And of all the people, I never thought it would have been me to embarrass the UFC. The sport has enough negativity towards it, and we’ve got to be good role models for the sport. So I took all that negativity and turned it around.”

Guillard would still take some time to dig out of the mess he had gotten himself into, but in an ironic twist, a couple years later he would became a teammate of Stevenson in the Greg Jackson camp in Albuquerque, and it was “Joe Daddy” who helped him close the holes in his submission game.

Rich Clementi – Lsub1 – UFC 79 – December 29, 2007
Result – Clementi Wsub1
“I’ll never squash it. I tried to squash it before with Rich. I have no more room for squashing anything with him.”

There have been bad blood grudge matches in the UFC before, but none had such venom attached to it as the UFC 79 bout between Guillard and veteran Rich Clementi. It was so bad that you actually wondered whether the fight was going to break out even before the bell rang officially on Saturday night. Thankfully, the two kept things in check until fight night, but when things got going, Clementi showed a veteran’s poise and Guillard let emotions get the best of him. It’s not what he expected to happen.

“My emotions flying in this fight will work to my advantage,” he said before the fight. “My mom will be there again, I’ll have my family with me, and of course my dad will be there with me in spirit in the ring with me, so I’ve got a lot of positive energy going into this fight.”

Clementi finished Guillard via rear naked choke 4:40 into the first round, and Guillard’s star was falling fast.

Dennis Siver – KO1 – UFC 86 – July 5, 2008
Result – Guillard KO1
Three months after the loss to Clementi, Guillard scored a three round decision win over Eric Regan in a non-UFC bout. Four months after that, he was confident and back in the Octagon to face tough German fighter Dennis Siver. Guillard was too fast and hit too hard for Siver, and in just 36 seconds he was back in the UFC win column and back on the radar as a fighter to watch in the lightweight division.

Gleison Tibau – W3 – TUF9 Finale – June 20, 2009
Result – Guillard W3
It won’t go down as Guillard’s most exciting win or even most impressive, but his three round split decision victory over Gleison Tibau may be judged as his most important. Sure, Guillard would win a shootout on the feet more often than not, but everyone and their brother knew that if you could get him to the mat and work your submission game, this was his Achilles heel. But not on this night, as he befuddled the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, showed off his underrated wrestling game, and gutted out a tough win against a tough opponent. Yes, he would get submitted in his next bout against Nate Diaz thanks to a rookie mistake in the second round, but in the Tibau fight, he made it clear that those mistakes would be few and far between in the coming months and years.

Jeremy Stephens – W3 – UFC 119 – September 25, 2010
Result – Guillard W3
Now a member of the Greg Jackson camp in Albuquerque, Guillard bounced back from the loss to Diaz with victories over Ronys Torres and Waylon Lowe. In Jeremy Stephens, he was going to face a fighter who was willing to stand and trade with him until someone fell down. It made this UFC 119 bout the early favorite for Fight of the Night, but when the two got down to business, it was Guillard throwing a wrench into the works by using counters, movement, and quick kicks to keep Stephens off-balance throughout the three rounder. When it was over, the disciplined Guillard had another victory – this one via split decision – and the lightweight division had another contender. At long last.

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Guillard Replaces Florian vs. Dunham

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