Charismatic, strong, explosive, good wrestling, deadly knockout power—these were the things people used to say about Melvin Guillard. It feels like eons ago that the former UFC lightweight contender was boastfully walking down to the Octagon with a self-assured grin and a pair of sunglasses.
Guillard’s one-punch knockout power, cheeky attitude and bleach-blonde fade made him an instant star. His knockout win over Rick Davis nearly a decade ago is a chilling reminder of the kind of damage Guillard was capable of causing. Gravity pulled Davis’ limp body to the floor quicker than a boulder hanging six feet above ground.
But that was a long time ago.
Guillard, who now competes for Bellator, is a shell of the fighter he used to be. After getting cut by the UFC, he drifted to World Series of Fighting, where he endured one of the most controversial two-fight stints in MMA history.
He missed weight in both fights, including a lightweight title bout with Justin Gaethje. There was also the infamous media conference call (Warning: NSFW Language), where he aired his personal grievances with WSOF Vice President Ali Abdel-Aziz. He also ignored many of his PR duties, according to WSOF President Ray Sefo.
After being granted his requested release from the promotion, Guillard was quickly picked up by Bellator and thrown into a main event bout against Brandon Girtz, a relatively unknown former NCAA Division II wrestler.
Abdel-Aziz was looking like Nostradamus after Guillard’s lackluster performance at Bellator 141.
“We had some sparring sessions in the gym at Greg Jackson’s, and I beat Melvin every time. Melvin is never going to be a world champion,” Abdel-Aziz told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (Warning: NSFW Language). "All you’ve got to do is just match him up with a wrestler. He’s going to take him down and finish him.”
While Guillard didn’t get finished, he did get tossed around like a rag doll in a fairly one-sided split-decision loss. Apparently one of the judges was snoozing throughout the fight, as the vast majority appears to share the belief that Girtz’s hand deserved to be raised.
Sure, we can talk about Guillard’s broken hand. After the fight, former UFC fighter Din Thomas posted a picture of the swollen mass on Instagram.
A broken hand is always a nasty injury, and it very well could have been the reason Guillard seemed hesitant to exchange. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell because Guillard has appeared hesitant in all of his recent performances. The one-punch knockout power is still there, but modern-day Guillard bouts typically consist of him bouncing around on the outside and leaping in with a haymaker every 20 seconds.
Girtz, whom Derek Anderson knocked out a year ago in devastating fashion, showed no respect for Guillard’s offense, until the waning moments of the third round. He actually cracked Guillard with a left straight before hoisting him into the air and slamming him on his head. It was an absolute wrestling mismatch.
We can go on and on about broken hands, but the fact remains, Guillard is 3-7-1 in his last 11 fights. With more than 50 professional bouts under his belt, he is still facing the same old conditioning and grappling woes. Perhaps he can turn it all around, but it’s definitely hard to see any changes at this point.
Guillard is a young fighter, with a lot of miles on his body. If things fizzle out in Bellator, we could be looking at his last days in the MMA spotlight.
