Following a 2-5 skid and a recent loss to Michael Johnson, veteran lightweight Melvin Guillard is no longer a UFC fighter.
The 30-year-old “Young Assassin” was issued his pink slip following a performance that earned heavy criticism from his boss. MMAFighting.com first reported the release.
Guillard, who originally joined the UFC in 2005 after appearing on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” concludes his UFC career (for now) with an overall 12-9 record.
Earlier this month, Guillard (31-13-2 MMA, 12-9 UFC) met rising contender Johnson (15-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in UFC Fight Night 38’s co-headliner. However, following the March 8 event in London, where Guillard suffered a listless unanimous-decision loss, White wouldn’t say if Guillard would be released, but he was critical of the performance.
“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.
“I was excited for that fight. I thought (they were) both really explosive athletes who can mix it up really well, and it just didn’t happen tonight.”
Guillard’s nine-year run in the promotion saw a significant amount of inconsistency. However, despite well-documented out-of-the-cage issues, the three-time “Knockout of the Night” winner put on some truly captivating performances with a number of highlight-reel performances.
Guillard’s best run began in 2008, when he won eight of nine fights (including victories over Dennis Siver, Gleison Tibau, Jeremy Stephens and Evan Dunham) that put him in the thick of the UFC lightweight title picture.
However, a 47-second submission loss to Joe Lauzon – followed by a main-event submission defeat to Jim Miller – spoiled his run. The back-to-back losses also commenced his current skid, which includes just two wins (and one no-contest) in his past eight fights.
The fighter now will seek opportunities with other fight promotions.
Guillard leaves his current organization with the third most wins, most knockdowns and most knockouts in UFC lightweight history.
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