"Magic Man" Melvin Guillard thinks he should be next in line for Lightweight Title

[Travicity]

KILLEEN, Texas – Maybe there's something to this "new" Melvin Guillard (27-8-2 MMA, 9-3 UFC), after all.

Despite entering Saturday's UFC Fight Night 23 main event as a considerable underdog to highly touted opponent Evan Dunham, Guillard electrified the Killeen, Texas crowd with a thrilling first-round TKO.

The victory put Guillard at 7-1 in his past eight fights, and following the win, the "Young Assassin" said he believes he's on the cusp of a shot at the UFC's lightweight title.

"Honestly, I feel I should be next in line," Guillard said. "It's been a long time coming."

It's hard to deny that Guillard doesn't at least deserve to be in the lightweight title conversation, especially after his one-sided win over Dunham. It started early with a crushing right hand that echoed through the hangar hosting Saturday night's fight card, a "UFC Fight for the Troops" show attended by uniformed military personnel. Dunham somehow remained upright after the blow, but Guillard said he saw the beginning of the end.

Nevertheless, Guillard didn't press too hard and knew a slight mistake could lead to his undoing.

"When I hit him, I knew I hurt him," Guillard told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I saw the whole side of his face turn red, and I was like, 'Oh, yeah. I got him. I know he's hurt.'

"I didn't want to rush it though. The old me, I would have jumped in there and gotten crazy. He would have taken me down."

Indeed, and as expected, Dunham did start to work hard for the takedown. But Guillard proved capable of answering the challenge and shucked off a handful of Dunham takedown attempts. Impressive work by Guillard, to be sure, but the Louisiana native's physical tools have never been the question – it's his mental approach that has often proved his Achilles' heel.

This time it wasn't, and Guillard credited the Jackson-Winkeljohn Team for the assist.

"[Dunham] took my back for a second," Guillard said. "Some of you were panicking, I know, but I was confident.

"The difference now is that being at Jackson's and training with Coach Greg (Jackson) and guys like Carlos Condit and Donald Cerrone, I have a lot of great guys to work with everyday. I even roll around with Jon Jones. He's freaking huge. I don't panic anymore. That's the biggest thing between the Melvin of today and the Melvin you saw two years ago. I don't panic. I just come out and fight and stay patient."

Guillard did exactly that as he worked back to his feet from an early takedown and unleashed a brutal barrage of punches and knees that left the always-game Dunham slumped against the cage and in need of referee Mario Yamasaki's help just before the three-minute mark of the opening round.

The impressive victory earned Guillard a $30,000 bonus for the evening's "Knockout of the Night" winner, but the newly humble lightweight refused to take all the glory. Instead, he credited his coaches and already-lengthy career for helping him to the win.

"I'm just proud to have a great team and a great team of coaches," Guillard said. "When they come together, we make magic. That's just what is. Call me the 'Magic Man,' I guess.

"I've been doing this for 15 years. Guys underestimate me. I've put in my time, whether it was good or bad. Even my losses, I've learned from my losses. I was 22-0 before I lost my first fight. It crushed me. I go in there now, and I still feel like I'm 19 years old. I still feel young."

An incredibly seasoned fighter at just 27 years old, Guillard may very well just now be entering his physical prime. But it's his mental makeup that seems to be evolving most quickly right now.

Sitting next to fellow UFC Fight Night 23 winner Pat Barry, a fellow New Orleanian, Guillard shared a story from the fighters' youth that perfectly encapsulated the ladder the "Young Assassin" has climbed in recent years.

"The first time [Barry] ever met me, I was in the gym," Guillard said. "I walked up to him and was like, 'Hey, I need some sparring partners. I'll take it easy on you.' He was still that big. I'm a little guy. He looked at me and smiled.

"We got in the ring to spar straight kickboxing, and he soccer kicks me in the stomach and took all the wind out of me. I felt like I was dying. That was out first interaction. I didn't learn then, obviously. I was still a boy. But I guess over the years, that kick sunk in. It reminds me to be humble."

The kick may not have humbled Guillard immediately, but if you take him at his word, the 27-year-old has finally processed the lesson.

"My whole model today is that I want to do great things when people aren't looking; I don't want people to have to look at me to do something great," Guillard said. "I've heard this a long time ago, but I never applied it. One day I just woke up, and I was like, 'You know what? I'm tired of being in trouble. I'm tired of being the statistic fighter they say might not make it because he's wild or this and that.'"

Barry, for one, believes Guillard has made real progress.

"He's matured and grown into a man," Barry said. "Melvin had all the talent, all the potential, everything you would possibly need to be a superstar, but he was running with the wrong crowd. He just had it wrong in the head. He was just 16 years old and doing things that men weren't doing in the fight world. He just didn't have the maturity. It just took time.

"It's been great to watch him grow into a man – into a responsible adult. It's awesome. I'm never going to call him the 'Magic Man,' ever, but it's been great to watch him grow."

And while maturity was once a much-needed trait for Guillard, his attention has now turned to something entirely different: the UFC lightweight title.

"I know there's guys like (Anthony) Pettis, who's a champion, and they have to unify the belts," Guillard said. "He's a great fighter, too, and I'm pretty sure he'll get the next shot at it. But it doesn't matter. Like I told Joe Silva and Dana (White) and them, I don't want to sit around and wait on the belt. I want to keep fighting. That was the way I came up. That's why I have over 100 fights.

"I don't even like waiting three months to fight, to be honest with you. I'd like to fight again on the (Feb. 5) Vegas card that's coming up for the Super Bowl, if you guys have a spot for me – hint, hint, wink, wink.

"I'm going to make my run. This is my dream, my legacy. At the end of the day, I'll have a great story to tell someday when I'm an old man. I have a legacy to fulfill, and that's part of my legacy to fulfill. I will get that belt."

[The Mac]

i think he has some work to do before getting a shot...put him in with KenFlo