Props: UFC.com
Quoteworthy:
“Right now it’s tough. You got guys like Spencer Fisher, Frankie Edgar, I can name so many. You even got Rich in there. It gets tougher and you just got to train harder, but right now I’m going to give it a shot and try to become UFC champion. But for future reference, if that doesn’t work and I don’t feel that I’m going to be a champion in the UFC then switch me over to the WEC because its about being a champion and I want to go somewhere where I can be a champion right now. I’m not going to be naive and a hypocrite but I don’t see myself beating BJ Penn right now, he’s a top guy. Anybody under him, yeah, I can go head to head with and I could give it a shot, but I’m not going to sit here and say that my skills are good enough to beat BJ Penn right now because his ground game is way off the charts. Guys like (WEC lightweight champion) Jamie Varner and (Rob) McCullough and guys like that — those guys are tailor made for me to fight. I’m gonna give it a shot and give it a run, but if I fall short again, I’ll be looking forward to moving somewhere else so I can become a champion.”
Melvin Guillard details his recent growth inside and outside the Octagon in a recent interview prior to his lightweight showdown with Dennis Siver at UFC 86: “Jackson vs Griffin” on July 5. “The Young Assassin” has back-to-back losses within the eight-sided cage and if it happens again he seems content to try his hand in another organization such as the WEC.
55 Comments »
get some ground game and learn not to expose yourself so much
WEEKENDS News for those who missed it:
Mach Sakurai vs. Nick Diaz is back on for the DREAM title, only it will be postponed until September’s DREAM 6
Kazuo Misake will make his American Debut in the fall against either Cung Le (for the title) or Frank Shamrock
Also, I would like to start a pettition and send it to Zuffa to have Carlos Condit moved up to the UFC from the WEC
Why would they move condit? They are making so much money with him as the WEC posterboy. Why would you want to throw a guy like that in the UFC. He has absolutely no shot of beating Fitch, Kos, Swick, needless to say he would get torn a new one by GSP.
While I agree they won’t move Condit, I disagree that he has no shot of beating the above names. I think Fitch and GSP are the ones he’d lose to but I think he’d come out okay against Kos, Swick, and even Diego
getrawbc, you must have shook something lose. Diego and Kos would own Condit, sorry.
JOHN. i think they should move some of the ufc’s ww’s(its a little crowded) to the wec if their not gonna move condit to the ufc. your right he has no competition in the wec right now. ive mentioned burkman before but guys like swick, marcus davis and fioravanti should be honered to get a title shot at carlos imo and will probably never be serious title threats to the ufc belt. dana has stated that he wants the wec to be its own entity not a farm league to the ufc so he needs to do something better w/ condit and faber.
maybee amir and some of the other smaller guys on this years tuf should move to ww there as well.like tim crueder and matt brown. dana should start trying to build up the wec ww div from the bottom as well. theyve already moved spears over nd like i id the ufc’s ww div is so crowded it would be smart move on their part as well.
Amir has no shot of getting pushed down to the WEC. THe whole point of putting the title on hold and having TUF was to find a new, future UFC star. Amir will get babied, like the majority of TUF winners for a while in the UFC, but I promise he wont go to the WEC, if so, then the show woud have been utterly pointless!
youre right. rashad evans,joe daddy and kendall grove were tuf champs as well and i dont see them going anywhere soon and i dont consider any of them championship material either. i guess they need a reality show for the wec on VS. dont laugh, mma is what it is today mostly because of tuf and im surprised no other organizations have tried it. sure they would just be copying off the ufc, but most of them do that anyway.
you are definitely stupid!
people calling others stupid are stupid.
Agreed. Come on man.. give us your thoughts on the topic. Don’t just slag others for theirs.
Momma always said…”Stupid is as stupid does”
Petition?… I commend your enthusiasm, I’ll sign it, but I doubt it’ll happen anytime soon. White wants to build the WEC and it’s just now gaining momentum and he’ll be reluctant to remove his WEC stars to the UFC.
Carlos may seem small for 170 in UFC but may do well at 155. i wouldn’t consider him an A level but a good B level fighter.
I kno a lot of people dont like Melvin cause of his attitude but hes always been one of my favorite fighters. he seems to have matured a little by this post and i think if he can work on his takedown defense and his submission defense he would be hard for anyone to beat.
I agree! Everyone gives him shit cause he tested positive for Cocaine, not steriods! I bet half of the people in this site have tried cocaine once upon a time!
So get over his Postive test and like him for what he is a cocky, young talenmted fighter that is explosive and fun to watch!
I think he would do awesome in the WEC!!!
Half the people on this site have done cocaine? What ghetto do you live in? It’s not like you are talking weed here.
you are definitely not a hardcore fan and stupid!
I don’t like Melvin but you have to admire his honesty. He’s gotto be thinking the same as much of the W/W and M/W divisions.
Some pretty scary champions roaming about.
OMG: Is this really Melvin Guillard? is it possible that he has matured? I am shocked. Melvin is a young veteran with over 40 fights. If he can get his head together and start improving in his weaknesses, then he can make some real noise.
The old Melvin would have said, that he would destroy BJ Penn….I like hearing this new Mature Melvin giving BJ the props that he deserves, being that he is BJ “The GOD of MMA” Penn.
The real god is Sakuraba, but whatever!
Melvins explosivness has always made him ultra exciting but he didnt always win. If he can put it all together, he can turn into a pretty good UFC lightweight. The only thing I dont like is hearing him want to go down to the WEC. He made it to the UFC, man up and be successful there, dontgo looking for an easier route. Guys like Carlos Condit, still havent gotten t the UFC, Melvin should be honored and he should do everything in his power to stay in the UFC.
Could Melvin eveer get down to 145 lbs? I doubt it, but he would make an exciting challenge to Faber. Talk about the athletisism between those 2. Of course Faber would crush him on the ground, buti t woyuld be fun too watch!
Why doesn’t he punch his WEC ticket now?? He seems to have a clear understanding of where he is in the UFC LW food chain. If being a Chamapion is more important then testing yourself against the MMA elite..then go to WEC,XC,IFL,ROC,etc..I’m sure Melvin can be champion in another fight promotion..or can he???
If the UFC matches Melvin up with one dimensional standup fighters, he has a great chance at winning. But as soon as you put him against a wrestler or a BJJ guy, he has zero chance of winning.
He is not going to make any type of run in the UFC, and I am very surprised to see his name on a UFC card again. The WEC would be a much better place for him to fight. He would make exciting fights against new comers to the WEC. But the veterans of the WEC would run right over him, such as the Wrecking Ball, Marcus Hicks.
Chuck Liddell does not have off the charts BJJ, but he knows how to sprawl as good as anyone (but he also had a good wrestling base from his early years). If Melvin refuses to work on his BJJ, why can’t he at least work on his sprawl and takedown defense. I mean, it only logical. But then again, I don’t think “Melvin Guillard” and “logoical” have ever been used in the same sentence…
hehehehehehehehehe….
Given the events of Melvin’s most recent UFC fight against Rich Clementi, or more specifically the events at the very end of the fight, I propose Melvin be nicknamed ‘Teabag.’
I will second that motion.
Don’t forget, Melvin’s background IS wrestling”. He usually gets submitted while he’s on top. Also, Melvin gasses’… I think it’s mainly his mental attitude that needs improvement… if he has indeed matured like he said, he’ll be working on his Jujitsu game, cardio, and will maintain his poise when he’s tired. I won’t hold my breath with this guy tho’.
Whoever says Melvin cant wrestle is crazy. Have you ever watched any of his fights outside the UFC? I feel Melvin is undersized for the division in the UFC where the weight cutting is serious. Clementi looked like a beast against him. That was the only time he was getting outwrestled. He was handling Neer and Joe Daddy just caught him. And nice jab at the end but I don’t think you know dude personally, you just hear the interviews they release to get idiots excited about the fight.
That was the first thought that came to my mind after reading this, Phil. If all he really cares about is being the champ of an org, might as well just go straight to WEC now and hone his skills there for another possible UFC run in the future.
Better yet, he can go to Elite. He could probably cut to Gina Carano’s weight.
At least he’s realistic about with his expectations against BJ.
The other day, Josh Thomson said that BJ Penn was the best p4p fighter in the world. Add him to the list of guys who think so!
WAR BJ!
When Rampage was asked that question, he said the best P4P fighters are Fedor and Bj Penn, and in my mind, what Rampage says is GOSPEL!!!
Ok, ok, you won me over…now stay off the coke.
Subtract “with” from the first sentence in my previous post. It’s hard being on the phone at work and typing at the same time. I’m not the best multi-tasker.
Melvins biggest problem is himself. Im not a fan of the guy but he seems to be growing up understanding that even though he has had loads of fights if he doesn’t learn from them win or lose he wont progress in the sport. Doubt he will be a champ or even top 5 in UFC but he is young enough to have enough fights to be in contention. Time will tell.
BJ Penn vs Anderson Silva ??? 2 of the current best P per P fighters of the world today. Will they ever meet. I don’t think so..I just imagined it in my mind. The marketing behind would be nutz.
It’s possible but you’ve just gotta put GSP in btwn them.
Hr could beat Varner. Champions get paid so I can understand where he is coming from. The lightweight division in the ufc is stacked, and he’s not even a top ten guy there. He would have been the fifth best guy in TUF 5 behind maynard, diaz, manvel, and lauzon.
the assasin must have eaten some of that HUMBLE PIE as of late! i’ve always liked his full steam ahead attitude but he was 2 personal towards his opponents and i think that often was his down fall.he needs a good camp behind him & 2 keep this HUMBLE attitude and he will b okay! u also have 2 remember that N.O.is a killing zone & thats probable where that personal hatred towards his opponents comes from. all& all i wish him all best in his upcoming fight & his career, he’s still a young dude!
No I don’t think it’s because he’s from New Orleans, it’s just bad parenting.
Wow, good interview. I too would like to see him in the WEC, him against Razor would be a good fight.
Well it sounds as though he is a little more mature, but with all the talent in the world, Melvin just cant seem to be able to utilize it because of his head. Could be the coke, could just be that he is young, but Melvin could be a tough force much like a James Irvin, or CHris Leben, or Heath Herring, there divison cleaners, there not quite at the top but they will eliminate the pretenders and reveal the contenders.
Also known as a Gatekeeper….
at least right now he speaks the truth and not all cocky.
Anybody can say what they think the upper brass wants to hear. Just because he sounds like he has matured doesn’t mean he didn’t get with a good PR guy who scripted much of what he said. He knows the best chance he has to be in the UFC is to be on his best behavior. Since his best behavior is acting like a baby, or acting like a thug, or being a bitch and snorting coke, I would say he needs some help in the “how to act like an adult” department.
Don’t get me wrong, I would like to see a more mature Melvin. He’s an explosive fighter. One word that will never describe his fights is boring. I will just say that the jury is still out if he has really “matured” or not. Give it a few fights, see how he handles winning and losing, then maybe I’ll be willing to accept a more “mature” Melvin.
If he does, I say he change his nickname to “Mature” Melvin Guillard. Has a better ring to it.
Yeah I totally agree. It’s pretty easy to say the right things in an interview on UFC.com… I wonder how he’ll sound post fight. Back to classic Melvin me thinks…
i’ll never like this guy
he should go to wec win or lose after this fight
I have mixed feelings about this. One thing i can say is that its a sign that he wont be a champ, its like a NFL player saying “move me to arena football, i could be a champ there”. i really cant think cant think of any champ that has ever said “Theres real tough compition over here, i wanna fight guys that arent as good”. that just shows his heart. dont strive to be better, strive to find weaker fighters.
on the other hand, i do think that he would have better fights over in wec.
thats good that Guillard is being so truthful and needs to shape up his overall game…
it should be “ufc prepares to give melvin guillard one more shot.” get this guy out of there
Mr. Teabag, more like it. He’s a disgrace to the sport, go back to the hood Melivin Teabagger. Like Clementi said “nothing worse than someone who talks shit and doesn’t back it up”!!!!! He’s making it sound like WEC is a weaker div and that just by being in the UFC makes him superior.. I don’t think so. The WEC is a div full of hungry, balls out MFr’s who would dream of a title shot in the WEC or UFC, not wannabes.
C’mon…I luv this guy.
He’s got some personality. So many fighters are all cliches and sound bites.
His brash attitude, like it or hate it, is entertaining.
AND, he brings it every time he steps up.
I hope he rounds out his game and becomes the fighter he claims to be.
I wanna see him fight!
This is the 1st interview ‘EVER’ that Guillard has given to say he has some personality. We all like his potential’ but hate his attitude’. He’s someone that needs to be ‘whooped’ n’ kept at the bottom until he can handle re-inventing himself. At the age of 25,26? This is his time… he’d better take advantage of it.
wow he grew alot, if he grows alittle more then maybe he’ll make it to puberty..