Melvin Guillard‘s recent training history could charitably be described as “nomadic.” Or, if you don’t want to be charitable, you could say that the UFC lightweight has spent the last couple years burning bridges in gyms all over the continental United States. The last we heard, Guillard ended up at Grudge Training Center after being rejected when he tried to sneak back into Jackson’s MMA. (Before that, he was briefly a Blackzilian, but that didn’t work out either.)
“[Guillard] told me he left Grudge, because, basically they couldn’t come to an agreement about how much he owes them. They had a disagreement about the percentage that he had to pay them. They gave him an ultimatum, he said ‘goodbye,’ and now he’s training at ATT. He said he is not moving again. This is his home for life. ATT it is.”
Melvin Guillard‘s recent training history could charitably be described as “nomadic.” Or, if you don’t want to be charitable, you could say that the UFC lightweight has spent the last couple years burning bridges in gyms all over the continental United States. The last we heard, Guillard ended up at Grudge Training Center after being rejected when he tried to sneak back into Jackson’s MMA. (Before that, he was briefly a Blackzilian, but that didn’t work out either.)
“[Guillard] told me he left Grudge, because, basically they couldn’t come to an agreement about how much he owes them. They had a disagreement about the percentage that he had to pay them. They gave him an ultimatum, he said ‘goodbye,’ and now he’s training at ATT. He said he is not moving again. This is his home for life. ATT it is.”
“I feel me and him have a very good connection, and I know him pretty well,” Wittman said. “I feel we can really help him turn his career around…He asked me to hit mitts with him for the week, and it was a very good connection, and I think that was a part of what helped him make his choice to come here.”
“Melvin’s one of those guys that’s a spot fighter. He has shown spots of greatness…Seeing a guy like that, you can either be at the top of the game or the bottom of a game, or you can be a gatekeeper. When you’re mind is not right and you’re fighting for the wrong reasons and [acting] outside of what you do well, that’s where you see an athlete going downhill. To me, it’s all about where you are mentally.”
Though Grudge has long had a strategic affiliation with Jackson’s MMA — with fighters like Nate Marquardt, Brendan Schaub, and Shane Carwin shuttling between the two camps in the past — the Colorado facility is an independent operation, not subject to the edicts of Pope Greg. And with a fresh start at Grudge, the Young Assassin will look to snap his two-fight losing streak this summer.
“I feel me and him have a very good connection, and I know him pretty well,” Wittman said. “I feel we can really help him turn his career around…He asked me to hit mitts with him for the week, and it was a very good connection, and I think that was a part of what helped him make his choice to come here.”
“Melvin’s one of those guys that’s a spot fighter. He has shown spots of greatness…Seeing a guy like that, you can either be at the top of the game or the bottom of a game, or you can be a gatekeeper. When you’re mind is not right and you’re fighting for the wrong reasons and [acting] outside of what you do well, that’s where you see an athlete going downhill. To me, it’s all about where you are mentally.”
Though Grudge has long had a strategic affiliation with Jackson’s MMA — with fighters like Nate Marquardt, Brendan Schaub, and Shane Carwin shuttling between the two camps in the past — the Colorado facility is an independent operation, not subject to the edicts of Pope Greg. And with a fresh start at Grudge, the Young Assassin will look to snap his two-fight losing streak this summer.
While Guillard and Danzig have been given numerous chances to rebound after setbacks in the past — Guillard has lost four of his last five bouts, and is riding back-to-back losses against Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone — they’re both entering must-win territory, considering the UFC’s recent push to shed dead weight off its rosters. So who will come out on top in this one?
No other fights have been announced for the July 27th FOX event.
* You know a TUF winner’s UFC career hasn’t been much of a success if you still have to refer to him as “TUF [x] winner” when you’re writing a blog post about him, years after he won the show.
Guys you don’t have to refer to as “TUF [x] winner” anymore:Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, Matt Serra, Nate Diaz, Ryan Bader, Roy Nelson
Guys you still have to refer to as ”TUF [x] winner”: Kendall Grove, Travis Lutter, Mac Danzig, Amir Sadollah, Efrain Escudero, James Wilks, everybody after TUF 10.
Coaches and fighters from Jackson’s MMA say they were stunned last week to find out that an up-and-coming amateur fighter who had been training at the gym in Albuquerque since last summer was a wanted man who was on the run from kidnapping and domestic abuse charges in Colarado.
According to the complaint filed last July, Tyron Wright allegedly kidnapped an ex-girlfriend who he handcuffed and tortured. Besides assaulting her, White is also accused of heating up a knife on his stove and burning the victim with it.
Coaches and fighters from Jackson’s MMA say they were stunned last week to find out that an up-and-coming amateur fighter who had been training at the gym in Albuquerque since last summer was a wanted man who was on the run from kidnapping and domestic abuse charges in Colarado.
According to the complaint filed last July, Tyron Wright allegedly kidnapped an ex-girlfriend who he handcuffed and tortured. Besides assaulting her, White is also accused of heating up a knife on his stove and burning the victim with it.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/CLVRTV)
A Ring of Fire vet, Wright trained at Grudge Training Center in Colorado for several years alongside big names like Shane Carwin, Brendan Schaub and Nate Marquardt and was likely put in touch with Jackson’s by Trevor Whitman. It’s interesting that investigators took so long to find him since someone at Grudge likely would have known he was there and probably would have filled the cops in if they had bothered to visit the gym.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/Stocktonheybuddy)
Wright will be extradited back to Colorado to face felony charges of aggravated assault, willful assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.
