Is Melvin Guillard Still a Top UFC Lightweight Contender?

It’s hard to make an argument for Melvin Guillard’s place amongst the upper-echelon lightweights, but one loss out of six doesn’t signal his demise as a top lightweight contender.

Guillard’s last fight in the Octagon ended in an unmitigated disaster.

A fight that was supposed to propel Guillard to the next phase of his title aspirations blew up in his face at UFC 136, courtesy of Joe Lauzon, via rear-naked choke in an embarrassing 47 seconds of the first round.

How “The Young Assassin” comes back from such a humiliating defeat when he was right on the cusp of lightweight greatness, only he can answer.

Guillard is still a top lightweight contender, but where he goes from here will determine his eligibility to be named in the same breath as some of top lightweights in his division.

Here is why Melvin Guillard is still a force to be reckoned with in the UFC’s lightweight assemblage.

Submission Defense

Guillard is a member of Jackson’s Submission Fighting team, with a blue belt in jiu-jitsu.

He mightn’t be an accomplished practitioner in that particular discipline, but he does possess some expertise in it.

Every single one of Guillard’s defeats, save for his decision loss to Jake Short back in 2004, has been due to his lack of submission defense.

This area is his Achilles heel, and Guillard needs to work on this part of his game more than any other.

At 28, Guillard is still young, and with team Jackson behind him, there’s room for a vast improvement in his sub defense.

Once Guillard can get to grips with defending subs, he’ll be a handful for any and every lightweight.

Striking

Guillard can bang with the best of them, and he has a record to show for it—19 stoppages in 29 victories. That in itself places him in contention with the rest of the top lightweight contenders.

Two combatants in particular can testify to Guillard’s arsenal of pain.

Dennis Siver was starched within 36 seconds of the first round at UFC 86. Then there was Guillard’s blitzkrieg of Shane Roller at UFC 132, another first-round trouncing.

Melvin Guillard’s Last Five Wins

Following his loss to Nate Diaz, The Young Assassin went on a five-fight win streak—Ronys Torres (UD), Waylon Lowe (KO), Jeremy Stephens (SD), Evan Dunham (TKO) and Shane Roller (KO) all fell to Guillard.

Now, if Guillard had taken care of Lauzon, I reckon that he’d be two, maximum three fights away from a shot at the UFC lightweight title.

At this point in time, Guillard’s loss to Lauzon has scuppered any chance of his vying for the title anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean Guillard isn’t on the periphery; it just means he needs to work his way back into title contention.

Melvin Guillard’s Lightweight Ranking

As of Oct. 28, Guillard is currently ranked No. 11 by Bloody Elbow, but that’s neither here nor there as he’s above the likes of Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone, who dispatched Dennis Siver (ranked at No. 10).

MMAweekly gives a more accurate picture of the top 10 MMA fighters in the lightweight division—Cerrone and Anthony Pettis are ranked No. 10 and 9 respectively.

Neither Guillard nor Lauzon feature in their top 10 ranking.

In Sherdog’s ranking system, Guillard has been dropped altogether from the top 10, and now finds himself sitting atop the contenders list.

If that is the case with the above-mentioned MMA ranking organizations, then it means Guillard is definitely still in the lightweight mix.

Melvin Guillard’s Next Fight

Even though Guillard is still in the lightweight picture, his next fight will be a deciding factor as to whether he makes that slow climb back up the rungs of the lightweight's top 10 ranking.

If Guillard falters at any stage of the next chapter of his career, he’ll end up somewhere in the mid-contenders list or worse.

Likely candidates for The Young Assassin’s redemption could be a trio of top fighters who have been upended in their most recent fights.

Gray Maynard, Jim Miller or a rematch with Dennis Siver would be the ideal candidates for Guillard.

Tough fights they may be, however, if Guillard is victorious, his immediate inclusion in the lightweight top 10 ranking is not out of the question.