The people’s main event bout between Melvin Guillard and Justin Gaethje has now elevated itself to the most anticipated fight of the entire weekend after an explosive verbal exchange during Thursday’s WSOF 15 media conference call.
Guillard, who was released by the UFC in March, told Bleacher Report on Tuesday that he felt like an “A-list fighter fighting in the B leagues.” When given an opportunity to respond to Guillard’s comments, Gaethje agreed that Guillard was in a different league.
But it isn’t the same league Guillard thinks.
“Melvin’s got the resume that I want,” Gaethje said during the conference call. “He’s at the top of my list of the best person that I’ve fought. I’m certainly looking to injure Melvin. I’m not trying to just beat Melvin, I’m going to knock him out. I’m not going to let him have this fight easy, no matter what, and he’s going to know that he’s in a different league. He’s definitely in a different league than me, and it’s nowhere near my level. He knows that.”
Guillard is without a doubt the most seasoned opponent Gaethje has ever faced in his undefeated career.
The Young Assassin has spent the last nine years competing against the best fighters in the world under the UFC banner. Despite never actually contending for a UFC title, Guillard’s name was always in the conversation as one of the promotion’s perennial contenders.
He was finally released from his contract in March after losing a lackluster decision to Michael Johnson. From purely an organizational perspective, Guillard sees the WSOF as a top-tier promotion. He just doesn’t share the same kind of optimism when it comes to the promotion’s fight roster.
Gaethje boasts an undefeated record, but Guillard’s confidence stems from the fact that the reigning lightweight champ hasn’t faced anywhere near the same level of opposition as him.
“I got well over 200 fights. Justin Gaethje is 15-0. I still remember when I was 22-0, and I was 18 at the time. Records don’t mean [expletive],” Guillard said.
“What means anything is when we get in that cage on Saturday night, who’s going to want it? He can sit there and say I ain’t on his level. He can sit there and say all of that bulls–t that he knows that ain’t true, and [WSOF Vice President] Ali [Abdel-Aziz] and them know that it ain’t true either. I’m a m———–g warrior, and I’m going to take what’s mine on Saturday, and they going to look up and say, ‘Who’s next?’”
Just as Guillard paused to take a breath, Gaethje quickly added, “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t know.”
This brief iteration propelled a landslide of back and forth comments between the former teammates at Denver’s Grudge Training Center.
“If you had something personal to say to me, you could have came to me and talked to me like a man, but now you want to do it like this,” said Guillard.
Gaethje snapped back, “Take your ego out the door, bring your heart and f——g let’s go. It’s easy.”
Never one to back down from a challenge, Guillard matched Gaethje in trash talk by assuring that things would be different in an actual fight as opposed to a training session.
“You’re a great fighter. Training and fighting are two different things, homie,” said Guillard.
Despite Guillard’s compliment, Gaethje couldn’t shake being referred to as a B-level fighter. He said, “You already said I’m a B league fighter. Come see me. We’ll see on Saturday.”
The initial assumption would be that Gaethje has more to lose as a champion heading into a world title fight. This would be true in most cases. Gaethje is the man currently at the top of the WSOF lightweight heap, and Guillard is standing in line like every other contender looking to win a world title.
However, there is an issue of name recognition that trumps the usual instance of a champion being at the forefront of an event. Fighting in the UFC has turned Guillard into an MMA star, a familiar face to casual fans.
Gaethje has yet to achieve anywhere near that same level of notoriety.
What Guillard offers Gaethje far outweighs the gold strap wrapped around his waist. Gaethje is fighting for recognition in an MMA world obsessed with the UFC.
But Guillard isn’t just handing over the golden ticket to superstardom. Gaethje will have to come and take it.
“I’m the one who has everything to lose,” Guillard stated. “When you walk around town and everybody ask me what organization you’re fighting on the 15, I say, ‘World Series.’ People are still mistaking me for a UFC fighter, and I say, ‘No I’m not in the UFC. I’m fighting for the World Series lightweight title.’ The next question out their mouth is, ‘Well, who you fighting?’ I’m fighting Justin Gaethje. The next question is, ‘Who the f–k is that?’
“He’s the lightweight champion of a f—–g league, and nobody knows who he is. The problem is they using me like I’m going to be a stepping stone for his fame to give him record so people can know who he is. I got to say he’s sadly mistaken if he thinks he’s going to build his reputation off of beating Melvin Guillard on Saturday night.”
A win on Saturday night might be all Gaethje needs to break into the mainstream spotlight, which is why he’s gunning for a violent finish.
“I’ll be getting paid to put you to sleep, Melvin,” said Gaethje.
Guillard responded, “You’re a champ with no m———–g existence, nobody knows who you are. They’ll know who you are on Saturday. You’ll fall, then I’m going to be the champ, then everybody is going to know Melvin Guillard is the World Series of Fighting lightweight champ.”
WSOF 15 will air live on Saturday night on NBC Sports. The fight card is headlined by a middleweight title fight between David Branch and former UFC title contender Yushin Okami.
Top women’s strawweight Jessica Aguilar will also be in action defending her 115-pound throne against Kalindra Faria.
All quotes were obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise. Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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