Japanese MMA legend Takanori Gomi will face off against UFC veteran Melvin Guillard in late July.
Two former UFC lightweights will compete against each other at RIZIN 11 on July 29th, as ex-PRIDE champion Takanori Gomi takes on Melvin Guillard at the Saitama Super Arena. The poster says “MMA special rules” which could just mean no elbows above the neck, as was the case when Gomi was originally scheduled to fight kickboxing standout Andy Souwer.
“The Fireball Kid” (35-15, 1 NC) is neither a kid nor has he shown much fire in his fireball over the last several years. He hasn’t won a fight since 2014, and is currently on a six-fight losing streak, with all coming by stoppage. The 39-year-old made his RIZIN debut on the New Year’s Eve 2017 card, losing by submission to Yusuke Yachi. Gomi’s last victory was a decision over Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 172.
“The Young Assassin” (32-20-2, 3 NC) is similarly not young for this sport, and is on an even longer winless skid of eight. Since his UFC release in 2014, Guillard has fought for World Series of Fighting, Bellator MMA, and regional promotions. He notably took Justin Gaethje the distance in defeat, but badly missed weight for what was supposed to be a title fight. He did actually KO Dave Rickels in Bellator, but a drug test failure nullified the result and made it a no contest. Guillard has been KO’d in his last three bouts, against Muslim Salikhov, Israel Adesanya, and most recently Maurice Jackson.
RIZIN 11’s main event is expected to be a rematch between ex-UFC title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi and Hiromasa Ogikubo.