Melvin Guillard Officially Released By The UFC

Melvin Guillard’s recent UFC career has been riddled with losses and disappointing results; ‘The Young Assassin’ has won only twice in the last three years, and his recent decision loss to Michael Johnson was frustrating at best. The bout went down at Fight Night London, and served as the co-main event for the evening.

“There’s no doubt Melvin ran the entire fight and was incredibly passive, the complete opposite of how he used to fight,” White said. “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.”

UFC president Dana White was visibly angered by Guillard’s performance against ‘The Menace’, and it now seems that the lacklustre showing by Melvin has scored him no points with his employers. Guillard’s nine-year stint with the UFC is now over, as the promotion announced late last night.

Manager Malki Kawa confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com:

“We’re working to get him signed somewhere else,” he said. “I’m going to do what’s best for Melvin.”

‘The Young Assassin’ earned his stripes by racking up the most knockouts at lightweight. The heavy handed Top Team product dispatched eight opponents with his power-based striking, but was regularly dominated by most fighters with solid ground skills.

Factor in that his stand up seemed very poor against Johnson, and you can understand why the UFC may have grown weary of the troubled veteran. Guillard’s camp switching during recent times has had an obvious impact on his overall game, especially when you remember that many fans had ‘The Young Assassin’ pegged for title glory.

As far as where Guillard will find work now; there are plenty of options out there. I’d bet that WSOF or Bellator would be among the main promotions willing to give a fan favorite like Melvin a job, if not there is always the Asian market to consider. We salute you Melvin Guillard, as we enjoy the below highlights of you, courtesy of Ultimate Highlights.