Melvin Guillard training with Greg Jackson for next fight
I wanted to take him down and hit him with some more ground and pound because I had cut him…
I wanted to take him down and hit him with some more ground and pound because I had cut him with the first exchange on the ground in the first round, recalled Guillard. So I figured I’d take him down and possibly get a stoppage. But it didn’t work out that way – it was a bad shot, and he just caught me diving in.
Diaz’ subsequent guillotine choke ended matters via tap out at 2:13 of the second stanza, snapping Guillard’s three fight winning streak and putting him back in the familiar spot of having to bounce back from a bout in which he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. This time though, he had a plan, and it involved a change of scenery from his usual training digs in Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the home of Greg Jackson’s MMA.
I’ve been talking with Coach Greg for a while about coming up, said Guillard. Me and Joe Stevenson have been hanging out a lot and he just kept telling me that it’s a great camp to come to. I knew it would be the best place in the world for me because his training speaks for itself, so I ended up coming here and they made me a part of the team.
Yes, you read that right – Guillard and his former opponent, Stevenson, are now teammates. And as such, Joe Daddy has been teaching The Young Assassin how to defend the same submission that he and Diaz finished Guillard off with.
Joe’s always been a good friend of mine, even when we were on the show, said Guillard, who was submitted by Stevenson in 2007. Yeah, we had to fight each other, but it’s just business and we never took anything personal. Joe is teaching me a lot right now, especially the guillotine defense. That’s what my biggest downfall is, and Joe’s definitely the right man for the job and he’s helped me a lot.