UFC 132 – Melvin Guillard credits Greg Jackson camp for his improvement, disappointed to be facing Shane Roller

UFC lightweight star on the rise, Melvin Guillard has been speaking about how his life and career turned around when he joined the Greg Jackson camp back in January of last year so much so that he’s now realising his full potential as he climbs the ranks at 155 pounds.

Speaking via Heavy.com, Guillard said:

“This place has changed my life, not just in the cage either. I came here kind of still broke and disoriented because a lot of camps wouldn’t accept me. I tried to go to Xtreme Couture; they turned me away. I tried to go to Miletich (Fighting Systems in Bettendorf, Iowa) a long time ago, and I decided that wasn’t going to work out; my personality isn’t going to fit with the guys up there. So it took a lot of soul-searching for me to find the right place.

“I stumbled upon this place because of Joe “Daddy” Stevenson; he brought me here last January and I haven’t left since. It’s been phenomenal, and as you guys see, all of my hard work, you see it in all the wins I have. I’m undefeated since I’ve been here.”

“I’m blessed and very fortunate to say that this is my home and this is my team. I hope I don’t have to go anywhere else. I hope I’m here until I finish my career. I’m in a room full of great guys like Diego Sanchez, Carlos Condit, Clay Guida, the list goes on. We have a phenomenal team here, but everybody lends a hand to helping. Nobody comes to the gym like they’re better than the next.”

Guillard then switched his attentions to the job at hand and his fight this weekend with Shane Roller on the UFC 132 preliminary card in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“I’m double-sided on that. It’s a little bit of a bummer coming off a fight in January that everybody expected me to lose. Everybody though Evan Dunham would be the next big thing at 155, so they basically brought me in as a stepping stone, and I steam-rolled right over him.

“I never overlook anybody. Shane Roller is going to be dangerous; he’s a worthy opponent. If he wasn’t worthy, they wouldn’t put him in there against me. The only downside to that is I win that fight next weekend – I win and I knock him out — then I don’t move (anywhere) in the rankings; I stay in the same spot.”

“I asked for the Jim Miller fight twice, because I know in my heart that Jim Miller is my money fight. He’s undefeated and he’s on an eight- or nine-fight winning streak. You beat a guy like that, it automatically puts you in the running for the title.”

Guillard is coming off a very impressive knockout win over highly touted Evan Dunham in the main event of the UFC Fight Night 23 event in January. The Greg Jackson trained fighter called for a title shot following the fight.  Stay tuned to MMABay for more build-up to this one as we get it.
By Michael Pepper.