Author: Michael Cahill

Melvin Guillard rode a four-fight winning streak into his matchup with Shane Roller on Saturday in UFC 132, and he ended the day with a five-fight winning streak.

Guillard is simply on a roll right now, knocking Roller out at the 2:12 mark in the first round after a barrage of hooks, knees, straight lefts and uppercuts that hobbled Roller before he fell to the mat.

Said Guillard, via Sherdog.com:

“I’ve been training hard. I feel great. I feel a lot of emotions right now. My whole life, I’ve battled so much, and now I’m coming back to the top of my game. My life is in order, and this is a great feeling. I know I’m making my dad proud right now.”

After his performance on Saturday, Guillard has to be within striking distance of a title shot in the 155-pound division. He’s clearly proven himself, with a 28-8-2 record in MMA and 10-4 UFC mark. He’s actually starting to come into his own, becoming a formidable title contender.

Guillard, who is building a reputation as a supremely quick opponent, used his speed and combinations to quickly end the fight, and look ahead to his next fight, whatever that may be.\

Said Guillard, via MMAJunkie.com:

“I’ve been saying all week that speed kills. I came here in the best shape of my life and I was really comfortable in there tonight. I knew that I could break him. I knew that with my speed and my pace, I could make it a rough night for him.

“I really hope I get “Knockout of the Night.” I want another top contender next. I’m looking for my meal ticket to a title shot.”

If Guillard keeps fighting like this, he’ll be seeing himself in many highlight reels, complete with an athletic, striking style that is fun to watch.

Check back for more on the UFC as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s Mixed Martial Arts Page to get your fill of MMA.

–Ryan Rudnansky

UFC 132 Features Contentious Matchup Between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber

It all started four years ago when Urijah Faber submitted Dominick Cruz with a guillotine choke in the first round of WEC 26.

In the post-fight exchange, Cruz (17-1, 0-0 UFC) felt Faber slighted him, and the rest was history.

Said Faber, via Yahoo! Sports:

“I went up to him and I said, ‘Good fight.’ That was it. I said, ‘Good fight, buddy.’

“I don’t think I was rubbing it in. I was just kind of like, ‘Good fight. Try again, buddy.’ But he knows what I meant. He was right.”

Cruz, seething, followed up Faber’s actions by signing his name on Faber’s face on posters in the WEC, and it sets MMA fans up for tonight’s fight in Las Vegas.

Cruz has excellent conditioning, which favors him if the fight goes long. He’s also a dangerous stand-up boxer, with knockout punching power.

On top of that, his stance is very awkward, which apparently has worked very well for him in his career thus far.

Faber (25-4, 1-0 UFC) will likely try to do what he did when the two fought four years back, get Cruz to the mat using his strong takedowns and use his submission prowess to make it a wrestling match.

However, even when the two fighters are standing, Faber does have very quick hands, and his quickness could cause Cruz problems.

One thing’s for sure: both will be trying to prove who is the better fighter in a longstanding rivalry, which usually lends itself to an exciting fight.

Faber has even released viral videos mocking Cruz.

It’s fitting that in Cruz’s UFC debut fight, he’ll be pitted against his bitter rival. He’s certainly not going to be welcomed in with open arms.

–Ryan Rudnansky

At UFC 132, UFC president and owner Dana White has told legend MMA legend Tito Ortiz that if he loses again his career with the company is over.

This has to be a serious blow to Ortiz’s ego, but the writing has been on the wall for the last few years. While Ortiz has struggled recently in his career, there was a time when Ortiz was the biggest draw in the sport’s history.

Ortiz started with UFC in 1997 and has been on the roster ever since. Along the way he has battled some of the sport’s best in Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and most famously Ken Shamrock.

While his time in the UFC and things he accomplished can’t be disputed, UFC president Dana White doesn’t believe Ortiz’s place in the UFC Hall of Fame is so open-and-shut.

White told Yahoo! Sports:

That’s debatable. […] Let’s just say, Tito hasn’t always done the right things to build the sport or build the UFC. Tito would like to think so. I would beg to differ.

The problem with White having that much influence on the selections for the Hall of Fame would be his ongoing feud between White and Ortiz.

With White giving Ortiz the ultimatum that if he doesn’t win on Saturday at UFC 132 he will be fired, it is obvious that the feud is not over. To further show the divide, at the UFC 132 weigh in, both men had words for each other, and it appears their relationship can’t be saved.

Ortiz was one of the reasons UFC got as big as it did, and that means he has a rightful place in the UFC Hall of Fame. Whether he actually will or not is anyone’s guess.

Check back for more on the UFC as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s Mixed Martial Arts Page to get your fill of MMA.

—Donald Wood

When it comes to the sport of mixed martial arts, the fighters have to be very confident in their skills to maintain a high level of competition in the octagon.

These fighters have to be arrogant in the way they carry themselves in the ring, but sometimes that arrogance follows them into their normal life. When that happens, fighters tend to talk more than they should.

That’s what lightweight fighter Andre Winner did before his fight against Anthony Njokuani on the UFC 132 fight under-card.

Winner told MMAmania:

To tell you the truth, I don’t want to get Fight of the Night bonus. I want Knockout of the Night. I’m ready for a big war, but I’m also going out there to put him away. I want to knock him out. But again, I’m ready for anything in this fight, and will go in full force to get that “W”. I’m going out there to knock him out.

While everyone on the card wants to steal the show, it is smart to keep those words out of the opponent’s ear because they can use that as fuel. Winner is a tough, young fighter, but Njokuani has proven that he has a dangerous fighting style, and it would have been smart for Winner to go into the fight confident, but not over confident.

Njokuani is a very strong fighter, but he has a tendency to leave his chin open and get knocked out. Winner will have to use Njokuani’s aggressiveness against him by knocking him out when he gets the opportunity.

There is a lot on the line for both of these fighters, with their UFC careers both in serious question, and giving the opponent the edge in bulletin board material is one road they shouldn’t cross.

Check back for more on the UFC as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s Mixed Martial Arts Page to get your fill of MMA.

—Donald Wood

With UFC 132: Cruz vs Faber just a few hours away, the excitement over the pay-per-view is as high as it will ever be. Unlike some previous UFC fight cards in recent memory, this one is full of what could be solid fights and a lot of excitement.

One of the most intriguing fights of the entire night will be the possible final fight of UFC legend Tito Ortiz’s career.

UFC Owner and Chairman Dana White has gone on record saying that if Ortiz loses another fight, it will be his last with the company because he will be fired.

Ortiz has been behind the eight ball in the past, but this fight has more on the line that Tito Ortiz ever thought it would. The 5-1 underdog has no problem fighting with his back against the wall, and that’s a good thing because there might not be another chance to prove his meddle.

As for everyone betting against him, Ortiz has his own personal message to them. Ortiz told MMAmania:

I learned this in high school. Rankings don’t mean shit. You could rank anybody where you want but at the end of the day when it’s time to step in the cage and you fight, the man who has a smile on his face, the man who’s confident, the man who has everything behind him, knowing he’s going to win, that’s what it comes down to. That’s why it’s called betting — cause you’re laying a bet.

While in the fighting game confidence is a must have for a fighter, Ortiz is not going about this fight the right way. He should have kept his mouth shut and concentrated on the match, but that wouldn’t be Tito Ortiz’s method of operation.

As Ortiz continues to talk, his opponent Ryan Bader has prepared himself for an absolute war against the former UFC legend. While Ortiz is fighting for his career, Bader is fighting to make a serious name for himself, and Ortiz lack of discipline will get him knocked out and fired.

Check back for more on the UFC as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s Mixed Martial Arts Page to get your fill of MMA.

—Donald Wood