Melvin Guillard: The Maturing Assassin
Just as Josh ‘The Baby-Faced Assassin’ Barnett isn’t so baby faced anymore (he calls himself War Master, believe it or don't), neither is Melvin ‘The Young Assassin’ Guillard so young. How could he be with 39 fights under what might one day be his belt?
Only since moving to Jackson’s camp has the Assassin part of Guillard’s nickname become truly apt. With recent submission losses to Nate Diaz, Rich Clementi and Joe Stevenson, one had felt inconsistency rather than deadliness associated with Guillard, in spite of his heavy hands. Now, in just a few fights, Guillard has rocketed up in the rankings.
Guillard’s brutal, less-than-three-minute demolition of Evan Dunham, a man who’d had only one questionable, split decision loss to Sherk, and an even speedier destruction of tough Shane Roller, were a note to the division: look out for Melvin Guillard. But what’s the reason?
It’s hard to say just what Jackson has done with Guillard to bring about the transformation from borderline top ten to legit contender. It’s the kind of step-up many fighters would like to make. One is tempted to think that certain men have reached their apex as fighters, that perhaps they don’t have the ability to unlearn old habits and learn new skills. Could Diego Sanchez ever make the leap? How about Florian? Fitch? Koscheck? The list is long indeed.
Mir’s new and improved edition of himself came about when he thought deeply about why he was a fighter, and determined that he is a martial artist, that it is a lifestyle he would be following even if he wasn’t getting paid. Fighting is ninety percent mental. Determining who you are and why you do what you do could be one of the most important things a UFC fighter does in the course of his career. Perhaps it was this kind of gut-check that sent Guillard Jackson’s way.
Guillard always had the skills to do what he is doing now, but there has been a leap up. What I noticed in the Dunham and Roller fights was a similarity between Guillard, BJ Penn and Anderson Silva. It’s a subtle comparison, not a glaring one. Hear me out:
When you watch a video frame by frame of a Penn fight, the accuracy of Penn’s pin-point shots is astounding. Punches, kicks, knees, and elbows all land on their targets with amazing frequency. It’s as if Penn sees the fight in slow motion, or can even sense where a fighter’s mandible will be in 4.5 seconds. It’s a sixth sense Guillard now possesses.
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A la Anderson Silva, Guillard’s hands were down at his waist for a minute and a half of the 2.21 Roller lasted, and Guillard was never in danger. It was his footwork that kept him out of harm’s way. The comparisons to Penn and Silva were not constructed afterwards, but said aloud while watching Guillard fight. These are not bad comparisons for The Young Assassin.
Guillard has now called out Jim Miller. This is good strategy since Edgar-Maynard needs to be settled first. Miller has reeled off seven impressive wins since his unanimous decision loss to Maynard two years ago. The winner of Guillard-Miller needs to fight for the crown. It looks to me like Guilllard might just get there. The more he looks like a champ, the more likely he’ll become one.
And in spite of 39 fights, Guillard is still just 28, a maturing assassin with a lot of good years ahead---another dire note to the rest of the division.
By Renko Styranka
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer