Melvin Guillard squandered his biggest opportunity. | Photo: K. Mills/Sherdog.com
Melvin Guillard
With each passing incident, it becomes harder and harder to sympathize with Guillard. Talent only earns one so much forgiveness.
“The Young Assassin” has also been something of a vagabond in terms of his training over the past five years, bouncing from Jackson-Wink MMA -- where he enjoyed his most sustained run of success -- to the Blackzilians to Grudge Training Center to American Top Team. Stability, needless to say, is not his strong suit. Guillard has also done little to endear himself to promoters, having missed weight three times in his past seven appearances. Nevertheless, the 31-year-old was scheduled to challenge Justin Gaethje for the World Series of Fighting lightweight championship on Nov. 15; it represented his first crack at a major MMA title. Never one to shy away from a tape recorder or microphone, Guillard unleashed his lips in a pre-fight interview with MMAMania.com: “Gaethje is nowhere near my level. I’m an A-list fighter, fighting in the B league.”
Of course, A-list fighters tend to pay meticulous attention to important details -- like keeping their weight in check. On the eve the most important fight of his career, Guillard showed up, hit the scales and came in a ridiculous four pounds beyond the 155-pound limit. Out the window went his title shot. The next day, Guillard dropped a three-round decision to the guy who was supposedly “nowhere near” his level. It went down as an opportunity missed and cemented his place on the All-Turkey roster.
Finish Reading » Judges