Ross Pearson pulling for Guillard at UFC Fight Night 37, eyes rematch

LONDON – Ross Pearson wasn’t supposed to be here this week standing idly by doing meet-and-greets with fans and holding a microphone for Q&A sessions.

He was supposed to be cutting weight, getting ready for his rematch with Melvin Guillard in front of his home fans in London. And even though he’s known for a while he wouldn’t be putting on the gloves this week, now that he’s here watching the event unfold in front of him without being in the fight, it’s a little painful to watch.

“I still feel like it’s fight week (for me),” Pearson told MMAjunkie. “But I’m not fighting. I’m not getting to compete. I’m not getting to put on a show.”

Pearson (15-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) fought Guillard (31-12-2 MMA, 12-8 UFC) this past October in Manchester. But the fight was stopped early when an accidental illegal knee slice Pearson’s head open to the point the cageside doc said, “No way.”

A rematch for this week’s UFC Fight Night 37 in London was booked in short order. But a longstanding knee injury finally got tired of being iffy, and Pearson was left with no choice but to get it fixed when it gave out one final time. Instead of Pearson, Michael Johnson (14-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) gets a crack at Guillard.

Pearson said his knee is returning to 100 percent on the type of timetable that should have him training at full speed by month’s end. And as for a trip back into the octagon? He’s targeting early summer.

But that still leaves him watching the Guillard-Johnson fight knowing he was supposed to be in there.

“It’s like one of the movies where it cuts too short and you’ve got to wait six months for the next part of the movie to come out,” Pearson said. “It’s a fight we both wanted. We’ve got unfinished business. We kind of let the fans down. The fight was hyped and it was going to be an amazing fight, which we both know we can put on. Our styles just make a great fight. We were both out looking to knock each other out. We both come to entertain. The fans deserve that. Unfortunately, the way this sport goes sometime, it didn’t happen. But I’m sure it will in the future.”

Pearson, who won Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” believes Guillard has the edge against Johnson “pretty much everywhere.”

Even though his fight with Guillard was over less than two minutes after it started when the illegal knee landed, he saw some things from him that he didn’t expected, and those are the same things he believes will catch Johnson unaware.

“He’s unorthodox and very unpredictable,” Pearson said of his once and potential future opponent. “… Maybe he’ll go a round or two. But I think he’s just going to catch Johnson coming in. He’s so explosive and so fast that just the shortest of shots to catch him – and he’s got such killer instinct. Once he sees you’re hurt, he’s just on you and doesn’t let off. He’s just relentless with that. I think he’s just going to catch him coming in too soon.”

Pearson said he’ll fight Guillard whenever – his first fight after surgery, or down the road if it has to be later. But he believes Guillard has the edge against Johnson in Saturday’s UFC Fight Pass-streamed co-main event at O2 Arena, and he’ll even go so far as to admit he’s rooting for him.

“I’m supporting Melvin this weekend. I’m rooting for him,” he said. “I want him to do well because it just makes our fight even bigger. I want him to do it because I know he likes to be active and keep busy. As soon as he wants to do (the rematch), let’s do it.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 37, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.