So is there a place for Melvin Guillard in 2011 UFC Lightweight picture?
Posted on January 24, 2011, 06:05 AM by Anton GurevichFight for the Troops 2 event saw Melvin Guillard scoring probably his most impressive victory in the UFC, knocking out the highly-regarded Evan Dunham in the first round. Guillard celebrated the victory making motion of having a belt around his waist, as the MMA community quickly put the Greg Jackson product in line for a shot at the UFC Lightweight title. Yes, it was a terrific performance by "The Young Assasin", but what's his real position in the Lightweight ladder? Is he really currently one of the top contenders for the title? Let's take a look at the UFC Lightweight title picture to find out.
Anthony Pettis
Record: 13-1
Last Three fights: Defeated Alexis Karalexis, Shane Roller, Ben Henderson
WEC Lightweight Champion. Pettis defeated the Top 10 Lightweight Ben Henderson at WEC 53 and was originally scheduled to fight the winner of the UFC 125 bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Instead, "Showtime" will square off against Clay Guida at TUF 13 Finale in June.
George Sotiropoulos
Record: 14-2
Last Three Fights: Defeated Joe Stevenson, Kurt Pellegrino and Joe Lauzon
The Australian BJJ wizard currently holds a fantastic 7-0 record in the UFC, defeated some of the best Lightweights on his way. Sotiropoulos will look to put an exclamation mark above his legitimacy as the UFC Lightweight title contender, facing Dennis Siver at UFC 127 in Australia.
Jim Miller
Record: 19-2
Last Three Fights: Defeated Mark Bocek, Gleison Tibau and Charles Oliveira
Jim Miller's only defeats are coming against the current Champ Frankie Edgar, and the challenger Gray "The Bully" Maynard. Twenty-seven year old Miller put a streak of six consecutive victories inside the Octagon, and can surely consider himself as one of the leading contenders for a shot at the title. Jim Miller will look to prove himself once again, this time facing Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128 in March.
Clay Guida
Record: 28-11
Last Three fights: Defeated Shannon Gugerty, Rafael Dos Anjos and Takanori Gomi
"The Carpenter" made a huge statement with a victory over Takanori Gomi at UFC 125, and will look to add another big name to his list with a victory over Anthony Pettis in his next fight. Guida has always been around, but constantly failed to put together a necessary streak of great performances to catapult himself into a top contender position. This time, it looks like the relentless Greg Jackson fighter is serious about his goals of making a title run this year and will surely stay on the spotlight for the rest of 2011.
So there you have it, guys. There's at least four other contenders for the UFC Lightweight title, not counting Melvin Guillard. Again, "The Young Assasin" is definitely one of the top fighters at 155, but in my opinion it's a little bit too soon to talk about him as a potential title challenger. It's hard to see the UFC Lightweight title defended four and more times this year. UFC Lightweight division is stacked, and most of the so called "title contenders" will have to fight a few more times before they get their shot at glory.
Melvin Guillard needs one more fight to solidify his position, to make Joe Silva and Dana White even more headache about what quickly became the most stacked division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Comments
Let Guillard win one more great fight, then he will definitely be one of the contenders for the UFC LW title.
I'd like to see him fight Kenflo next. all the other top ten fighters seem to be tied up, so to me, Kenny seems logical, as well as a good test for the Young Assassin
I would like to see him fight somone like Sherk or Kenflo and if he beats them then for sure I'll consider him a contender
His sub defense is what kills him before the other night I only saw 2 of his fights both were losses by sub from Nate Diaz and Rich Clemente
Agreed. However, if I could rearrange things a little bit, I would rather see Guillard fight Guida and Pettis face Kenflo. Stylistically, I think those match-ups would be more entertaining.
That said, with Pettis-Guida already made, Kenflo would be a great test for Melvin.
Give Guillard the loser of Guida/Pettis. and the winner gets the title shot. Then Sotiropoulos gets the next one, then give Guillard the contender fight (if and when he wins the prev mentioned fight). Or give him Ben Hendo, then the contender fight.
Personally a year or so ago I couldn't have really cared less about Guillard. But he's been looking like a real contender in his last few fights. I think this win confirmed that he's right up there in the mix. The pool is deep, so it's tough to call. He's got the ability tho, no doubt about it.
Looking forward to his next fight.
Agreed hes looking better now days
guillard and guida are two guys who have been around a long time, been climbin th ladder and then got knocked down and both seem to now have a level of consistency in their game and they're starting to look really good against top guys, LW division is looking good, except whentitle fights end in draws! >:( ha
just let the contenders fight each other, and then winners againt winners, like a little tournament
He might not be in the position for a title shot yet, that being said I'm sure nobody at the top of that division would really want to fight him.
He's looked great and as long as he can stay with Jackson and stay focused he will be a LW to be reckoned with for a long time (he's still only 26)
KenFlo seems like the best possible opponent with no fight lined up. That would be a great match up.
Not sure any other LW has the speed & power in their hands the way Guillard does.
has been for a while
As usual, the only way to judge a fighter's chances are to assess his past performances and the level and styles of opponents he has defeated.
Melvin has definitely earned himself a ticket to the higher levels in the LW division. He needs to defeat two or three top ten opponents now, before he can expect a title bout.
Judging by his last performance, he has the tools to do it. The only question marks will be his takedown defense against top tier opponents, and his ability to get off of his back without being subbed if he gets taken down.
Why not- he made a top fighter (Dunham) look terrible.
I think he deserves a title shot for sure, he made Dunham look like he had never been in a fight before. I'm sure he will be put against another top fighter and prove that he deserves it.
Guilard vs Sotirolpoulous would be perfect
so many contenders right now, that it's hard to say. he's on the right track after that performance againt dunham. one more win over the likes of a sherk or kenflo and he'll be as worthy a contender as any other.
Guillard vs Guida would be awesome
Guillard isnt quite at a title shot yet, although he is getting there... and quickly. I think the best match up right now is Guillard vs Sherk. Sherk will obviously be able to test Guillards ground game and put him in some uncomfortable postions. If Guillard can get through Sherk then its time for another big name fight with the winner getting a title shot.
I agree with Rafael_Roberto
Guillard should fight Sotirolpoulous for the title shot. Then we can really see if Guillards takedown defense will work against a top contender
He's not that good