Melvin Guillard shared photos of the aftermath of his bare-knuckle boxing fight against fellow UFC veteran Joe Riggs.
Older fans of the sport are well-acquainted with old-timers Melvin Guillard and Joe Riggs. Now in their late 30s, the two UFC veterans are still actively competing, most recently in bare-knuckle boxing.
Riggs and Guillard headlined BKFC’s Montana event on Saturday, with the former emerging victorious via knockout inside 59 seconds of action. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the short clip:
— UFC (@justantherburn) October 10, 2021
That single punch may not seem like a lot, but it apparently caused severe damage on “The Young Assassin.” After the fight, Guillard gave a blow-by-blow update on his condition via Instagram, where he first showed a photo of his left eye swollen shut. It required a few stitches along with an MRI and CAT scan.
Guillard later underwent surgery and revealed he had suffered five orbital fractures.
Just found out at 3:15 a.m. I have five fractures in my orbital so I will be having surgery today just wanted to get my fans friends and family the news I’ll be okay just keep me in your prayers I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared right now we’ll see what happens
Guillard later posted that he’d been released from the hospital.
Even after an unsuccessful stint at TUF 2, Guillard was granted the opportunity to fight in the UFC. He had notable fights against Marcus Davis, Josh Neer, Dennis Siver, and Evan Dunham, among many others. He was known for having powerful hands and to this day holds the most number of knockdowns in the UFC lightweight history with 13.