Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi caught up with Dana White following the UFC 136 press conference today and picked the UFC president’s brain about a few hot topics that have been swirling around MMA blogs and messageboards as of late.
White gave some insight into how he expects the UFC’s first dual event to go down, logistically, and shared his thoughts on what title implications certain bouts from UFC 136 might have including Stann versus Sonnen and Lauzon versus Guillard. He also mentioned that the future of Strikeforce could be determined this week as Showtime will likely announce whether or not it intends to re-up with the now Zuffa-owned promotion.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/Heavy)
Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi caught up with Dana White following the UFC 136 press conference today and picked the UFC president’s brain about a few hot topics that have been swirling around MMA blogs and messageboards as of late.
White gave some insight into how he expects the UFC’s first dual event to go down, logistically, and shared his thoughts on what title implications certain bouts from UFC 136 might have including Stann versus Sonnen and Lauzon versus Guillard. He also mentioned that the future of Strikeforce could be determined this week as Showtime will likely announce whether or not it intends to re-up with the now Zuffa-owned promotion.
Of note was White’s explanation of the “All American Effect” that Stann has over the division. Dana explains that he’s so well-respected by his peers that nobody wants to fight him and that’s the reason Chael Sonnen couldn’t even fake an insult or two to lob at him during the lead up to their bout.
According to “The Baldfather” the winner of Stann-Sonnen won’t necessarily get the next shot at Anderson Silva since Dan Henderson is back in the mix, which could mean that a title eliminator may be in the cards if “Hendo” gets past Shogun.
(Jon Jones buys his first new car — a $190,000 2012 Bentley. For more pics of the UFC light-heavyweight champ’s new ride, head to MMAConvert.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. Starting today, we’ll be giving you guys short previews of each article we link to. We vouch for this stuff, so click, okay?
– My First Fight: Kenny Florian (MMA Fighting)
“Looking back, it’s crazy. The way that I trained, the way I ate, it was terrible. It was so far from what I do now…Ignorance is bliss, I guess, even when I was fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, weighing in at a chubby 178 pounds for a [185-pound fight], it was all kind of like I was just too dumb to know better.”
– Culinary Workers Union Creates Anti-UFC Website (The Fight Nerd)
“Maintained by the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, the website uses the acronym of UFC to stand for “Unfit For Children” instead of the “Ultimate Fighting Championship.” Dana White’s many rants are listed in detail on this page across a series of sub-categories, including “Obscenities,” “Slurs” which features many of the comments DFW directed at Loretta Hunt among others, “Cheap Shots” which focuses on remarks about random people involved in entertainment and sports, and “Other $#@%!!!” which documents rude comments that UFC fighters have said about others, including Chael Sonnen’s negative thoughts on Brazil.”
– Hired Hero: An Interview Exclusive With UFC 136 Fighter Brian Stann, Part Two (MMA Mania)
“The fact of the matter is, I don’t care who you are. If I hit you on the chin, there’s a good chance you’re going out. Anderson possesses that same ability. He’s only a man. I don’t put any fighter on a pedestal of being unbeatable. I train with guys like Jon Jones every day who is every bit as devastating.”
(Jon Jones buys his first new car — a $190,000 2012 Bentley. For more pics of the UFC light-heavyweight champ’s new ride, head to MMAConvert.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. Starting today, we’ll be giving you guys short previews of each article we link to. We vouch for this stuff, so click, okay?
– My First Fight: Kenny Florian (MMA Fighting)
“Looking back, it’s crazy. The way that I trained, the way I ate, it was terrible. It was so far from what I do now…Ignorance is bliss, I guess, even when I was fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, weighing in at a chubby 178 pounds for a [185-pound fight], it was all kind of like I was just too dumb to know better.”
– Culinary Workers Union Creates Anti-UFC Website (The Fight Nerd)
“Maintained by the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, the website uses the acronym of UFC to stand for “Unfit For Children” instead of the “Ultimate Fighting Championship.” Dana White’s many rants are listed in detail on this page across a series of sub-categories, including “Obscenities,” “Slurs” which features many of the comments DFW directed at Loretta Hunt among others, “Cheap Shots” which focuses on remarks about random people involved in entertainment and sports, and “Other $#@%!!!” which documents rude comments that UFC fighters have said about others, including Chael Sonnen’s negative thoughts on Brazil.”
– Hired Hero: An Interview Exclusive With UFC 136 Fighter Brian Stann, Part Two (MMA Mania)
“The fact of the matter is, I don’t care who you are. If I hit you on the chin, there’s a good chance you’re going out. Anderson possesses that same ability. He’s only a man. I don’t put any fighter on a pedestal of being unbeatable. I train with guys like Jon Jones every day who is every bit as devastating.”
– Dana White’s Hate List: 50 People Who Have Enraged the UFC Chief (BleacherReport/MMA)
“39. Cage Potato (Ben Goldstein)
Certain MMA websites and publications have angered Dana White in the past, but perhaps none made him more angry than when CagePotato.com’s Ben Goldstein linked to leaked photos of UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste’s Playboy magazine photos.
According to Goldstein, he later received a phone call from the UFC President himself.
“What kind of scumbag are you?” Goldstein recalls White opening the call with. He then went on a verbal tirade, ripping Goldstein for releasing the pictures early and ended the call with a promise to “F— you up worse than you’ve ever been f—ed before,” and hung up.
To this day, Cage Potato and the UFC remain on shaky ground.”
– The Top Ten Alterations to MMA History That 100% Occurred in a Parallel Universe (MiddleEasy)
“Bas gets drunk one night and stumbles into a Swedish night club. Nothing about that sentence should surprise you. Rutten is known to occasionally get down in random countries. The story goes Bas was restrained by security guards and was told to leave the club because he was entirely too boisterous. Bas agreed, but wanted to find his friend who was still inside in the place. Apparently the bouncers were in the mood to pick a fight with El Guapo and begin to shove him around the hallway. Within seconds, Bas was throwing enough hooks to level all security personnel within the vicinity. After Rutten knocked out essentially everyone in the hallway he was trapped in, he realized that eventually the same guys he KOd would gain consciousness and continue to pursue him.”
– All Kinds of Messages Sent by UFC With Second Show on Same Day as Japan Event (Fight Opinion)
“There’s a reason every other major sport in the world has off-seasons. Fans need breaks and the product right now does not need diluting. However, Zuffa has so many guys under contract and in order to keep guys from floating away to promoters like Bellator, you have to run a lot of shows. So, UFC had a decision to make — contract the schedule and run less shows in hopes of making them more special or run every week ala WWE and just grind things out. We’ve seen how well (not) it’s worked out for WWE. I give Zuffa credit for going all-in and sticking their necks out on the line but I don’t think it’s a very good move in terms of eliminating the ’specialness’ of their product.
The immediate impact of this decision to run multiple shows in different locations on the same night is the amount of stress it will put on the UFC production teams. They are already overworked and stretched to capacity. The more workload you place on them, the less variety there will be in the way the shows are produced. Just like WWE shows today largely look the same as they did a decade ago, UFC could fall right into that same trap. This opens the door up for mistakes being made.”
– What’s Next for UFC on Versus 6′s Winners and Losers? (NBC Sports MMA)
“Stefan Struve: Shane Carwin
Carwin needs to work his way back up the heavyweight ladder, and a fight against Struve would be a good test for him. Struve has been adding muscle to frame, so I would be curious to see how he would fare against a strong wrestler like Carwin.”
– Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson: Lighter Weight Divisions Struggle With Fans (LowKick)
“Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson both delivered solid performances on Saturday night during their main event, a fight that saw Cruz defend his bantamweight title for a fourth consecutive time. Cruz and Johnson, two of the fastest fighters in the UFC put forth a sustained pace that few fighters competing in the heavier weight classes could even dream about. Yet for some, the matchup between Johnson’s striking and Cruz’s wrestling, strength and tenacity wasn’t enough.
Are the more technical aspects of a fight such as Saturday’s main event lost on some fans or is it simply a matter of wanting to see two behemoths stand in the center of the cage and swing until one gets knocked out? Yes, this is an oversimplification of the issue, but when it’s all boiled down, there is a huge disconnect in fan appreciation between the heavier and lighter fighters.”
– Top 2011 MMA Television Ratings (So Far) (MMA Payout)
“On November 12th, the UFC’s debut on FOX will no doubt break the television ratings record for 2011, and quite possibly the all-time record of 4.3 million viewers held by Elite XC on CBS, which is to-date the most watched MMA event in history. So far in 2011 (as of October 4th), the UFC’s March 26th Fight Night 24 broadcast on Spike TV featuring Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Phil Davis is the ratings leader with 2.2 million viewers. It was the highest rated event since the September 2009 broadcast of UFC Fight Night 19: Diaz vs. Guillard, which had 2.5 million viewers.”
– Dana White: “Melvin Guillard Was the Biggest Waste of Talent” (5th Round)
“I like Melvin and I like how he’s training hard. I always thought he was the biggest waste of talent and he really turned that around and I’m happy to see it…I’m excited to see him in there with Lauzon. If he beats Lauzon, it’s gonna be interesting to see who we end up pitting together to fight for the title next.”
– Phil Davis Caught Off-Guard by Mistaken Announcement of Match-Up With Machida (Five Ounces of Pain)
“All of this is news to me. I’m still recovering and training. That’s pretty much the story. I guess the boss must have looked to book me…I’m just not a go yet. I would love to be in there putting on a good show and fighting, but my leg just does not agree with that. You put a timetable on it, it just may not work. You’ve just got to play it by ear. I don’t want to tell the fans I’m going to be back next week, and then that turns into two weeks from now or two months from now.”
Filed under: UFCMelvin Guillard will step into the Octagon with Joe Lauzon on Saturday night at UFC 136, but before he does that he’ll take some time out of his schedule on Wednesday to chat with MMAFighting.com readers.
Melvin Guillard will step into the Octagon with Joe Lauzon on Saturday night at UFC 136, but before he does that he’ll take some time out of his schedule on Wednesday to chat with MMAFighting.com readers.
Our Melvin Guillard live chat is your opportunity to ask Guillard about his fight with Lauzon, whether he thinks a victory would earn him the next shot at the UFC lightweight title, or anything else you want to know.
The live chat is now over, but you can still check out below what Guillard had to say.
While he trains at Greg Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts, Melvin Guillard recently honed his skills elsewhere. The 28-year-old lightweight, who is scheduled to meet Joe Lauzon at UFC 136, reunited with former teammate Rashad Evans at Imperial Athletic…
While he trains at Greg Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts, Melvin Guillard recently honed his skills elsewhere.
The 28-year-old lightweight, who is scheduled to meet Joe Lauzon at UFC 136, reunited with former teammate Rashad Evans at Imperial Athletics in Boca Raton, Florida. Guillard took the trip in part thanks to some convincing from his manager, Glenn Robinson, to seek additional help from Evans and his camp in order to prepare for Lauzon.
The brief transition has reportedly not sat well with Guillard’s trainers, including striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, but Guillard said he wants to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to him.
“Until it presents a problem as far as my coaching goes, then I’ll deal with it when it comes,” Guillard told Sherdog.com.
“I’m my own boss; my coaches work for me, so it’s whatever I choose that I want to do to be successful in this game. I’m going to take those options.”
Despite the ongoing feud between Guillard’s fellow teammate Jon Jones and Evans, Guillard said his decision to train with Evans was based out of respect and their friendship.
Although he is aware of the current rift between Jones and Evans, Guillard said he remains neutral.
“I stay out of their beef, and I keep myself neutral to everything,” he said. “I still love Rashad like a brother, and I love Jon like a teammate. There are gonna be other times when I’m gonna go to Imperial, and I’m probably gonna train there again.”
Filed under: UFC, NewsMelvin Guillard approaches each of his fights as if they are title fights, so the top 10 lightweight won’t sweat it if Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez ends up getting a title shot first.
Melvin Guillard approaches each of his fights as if they are title fights, so the top 10 lightweight won’t sweat it if Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez ends up getting a title shot first.
After Saturday’s UFC on Versus 6, UFC president Dana White revealed to reporters that he’s working to bring Melendez into the UFC fold “ASAP” with the possibility of Melendez entering with an immediate shot at the belt. That’s potentially bad news for contenders in line for a chance at the winner of this Saturday’s UFC 136 title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard.
“I wouldn’t be upset,” Guillard said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I look at it like this man, Two champions from two different organizations i think they both should fight to get rid of the No. 1 [contender].”
As for why Guillard has the patience to wait when most contenders campaign or at times outright begged (Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones) for a title shot, Guillard has several reasons. Guillard understands that the fans will want to see who the true champion is between the two promotions’ titleholders.
Additionally, Guillard doesn’t mind knocking off another potential No. 1 contender. The current No. 1 contender fight pits Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson and Guillard would be interested in fighting the former WEC champ.
“It takes the heat off of me too. I rather get another fight,” the 28-year-old says. “If it has to be the winner of Guida and Ben Henderson, but right now Guida is my teammate, so I won’t fight him, but if something went wrong and Ben won, then I’d take the Ben Henderson fight next if i had to. It all has to work itself out and see what happens. we can’t really say who’s next and who’s gonna get what. Right now my main focus is on beatting up Joe Lauzon Satuday, winning that fight and I’ll move forward from there.”
He definitely wouldn’t fight Guida though, at least in the near future. Guillard, who splits his training with Imperial Athletics in Florida and Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, has trained closely with Guida under Greg Jackson.
“I wouldn’t fight my teammate unless it’s for the title,” Guillard said. “That’s the only way me Cowboy {Donald Cerrone) or Clay Guida would ever fight each other. Because at that point, it’s about us having our legacy.”
After his first-round knockout over Shane Roller at UFC 132 in July, Guillard wanted to fight Jim Miller, but when Miller ended up fighting Henderson. Guillard then sought a fight on the UFC 136 card in Texas, where Guillard considers his second home after New Orleans. Examining the list of available opponents, and especially impressed with Lauzon’s dominant win over Curt Warburton, Guillard secured the fight after pitching Lauzon to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva as well as Lauzon’s camp.
Guillard, who is ranked in the top 10 as a lightweight fighter, doesn’t believe it is a step down to fight Lauzon, who is 2-2 in his last four fights. It all goes back to him envisioning every fight as a title fight. By the time he does fight for the belt, he won’t feel any pressure.
“The 155 is a big traffic jam right now,” Guillard said. “I could care less if i’m next or after that. I’m just going to keep fighting and keep winning … To me every fight is a title fight. I treat every fight like a title fight so right now I’ve felt like I’ve defended my title five times already and I’m working on No. 6 this weekend.”
In MMA, there is nothing more exciting than the flash knockout. Fans may love fighters for their impressive grappling skills or technical prowess on the feet, but no one can deny they look most forward to watching guys who can end a fight in an instant…
In MMA, there is nothing more exciting than the flash knockout.
Fans may love fighters for their impressive grappling skills or technical prowess on the feet, but no one can deny they look most forward to watching guys who can end a fight in an instant.
With Melvin Guillard running through the lightweight division and taking out fighter after fighter by knockout, it only seems fair to highlight him and the other heavy hitters in the UFC before his fight at UFC 136 this weekend.
Melvin Guillard
While he trains at Greg Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts, 
Melvin Guillard