After eight years and 22 fights, Melvin Guillard cut from the UFC
After almost nine years with the UFC, Melvin Guillard will be looking for a new organization.
Guillard, who fought 22 times under the UFC banner, was cut Thursday night, his manager Malki Kawa told MMAFighting.com. Guillard was coming off a lackluster decision loss to Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night London on March 8.
Guillard (31-13-2, 2 NC) was one of the most season veterans on the roster and also one of the lightweight division's most powerful strikers. The Ultimate Fighter 2 alum has beaten the likes of Jeremy Stephens, Dennis Siver, Evan Dunham and Gleison Tibau. He put together a 12-9 (1 NC) record in the UFC.
The 30-year-old Louisiana native was always an incredible physical talent and a fan favorite for his aggressive, electric striking style. But he could never stick with one training camp and had some issues along the way, testing positive for cocaine against Joe Stevenson.
That assertiveness that made Guillard so beloved was shelved recently for a more deliberate strategy. And against Johnson, Guillard was almost too patient. He failed to pull the trigger. The performance drew criticism from UFC president Dana White and might have led to his being cut.
"There’s no doubt Melvin ran the entire fight and was incredibly passive, the complete opposite of how he used to fight,” White said at the post-fight press conference in London. “There was a lot of smack talk leading up to that fight, and those are the fights that everybody gets excited about, and nine times out of 10 they end up like tonight. Those drive me crazy."
