Melvin Guillard may lack any semblance of a real jiu-jitsu game, but one thing he doesn’t lack is confidence.
The charismatic lightweight is riding a two-fight losing streak to Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller. Both losses came by rear-naked choke, and both happened in under three minutes.
You’d think that would cause Guillard to sit back and eat a slice of humble pie, but you’d be wrong. Guillard still thinks he’s going to be lightweight champion:
“Not really. I’m content with what’s going on. You know you just have to keep working hard and keep training and keep on getting better. The more time I put in it just puts me closer to my goal and that’s being the champion. I believe I can be champion at 155. There’s no point for me to run to another weight class, I’m gonna be champion at 155.”
I like this attitude. After Guillard’s loss to Lauzon, he essentially pretended it never happened, telling the world that he and Miller were the two best lightweights in the world and that he viewed it as a championship fight. He said this after losing his last fight in under one minute.
And now he’s saying the same kind of things despite losing two in a row. You’ve gotta respect that kind of resolve. And I’m not saying that Guillard can’t be champion, someday; he’s obviously one of the most incredible athletic talents in the sport, with the kind of speed that can wilt just about anyone he faces.
But he’ll never be the champ if he doesn’t take some time and shore up his jiu-jitsu game. And given that we’ve never seen him actually focus on that—he tends to laugh off his submission-defense deficiencies whenever they’re brought up in interviews—I don’t have high hopes that he’ll eventually learn his lesson and do the one thing he needs to do in order to compete with the real top guys in the division.
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