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UFC veteran Melvin Guillard finally ends 11-year MMA losing streak, immediately retires

UFC lightweight veteran Melvin Guillard finally found a way to go out on top.

The 42-year-old erstwhile knockout artist scored his first victory in 11 years when he knocked out Tony Wiggins (3-1) in 27 seconds at Ragin FC 3 this past Saturday in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Simultaneously, the win snapped a 12-fight winless streak for Guillard (33-24-2, 2 NC) that dated back to his WSOF debut against Gesias Cavalcante in 2014. Immediately after, Guillard announced his retirement from MMA.

“It’s that time,” Guillard said following the surprise win. “I have well over 200 fights and it’s been a great run, but I’m ready to do something else.”

Guillard began his career in 2002, establishing himself on the Louisiana regional scene as a burgeoning 11-0 prospect. Three years later, "The Young Assassin" was brought on as a contestant on the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Despite a decision loss to Josh Burkman on the long-running reality TV competition series, Guillard still landed in the UFC, taking on Marcus Davis at the show's finale Fight Night in 2005. He won the welterweight bout via second-round knockout and eventually dropped to 155 pounds, where he spent the majority of his 23-fight UFC career.

Guillard scored his most notable UFC victories over names like Evan Dunham, Jeremy Stephens and Dennis Siver, and even appeared to be on the verge of a UFC title shot when he rode into his Lauzon bout in 2011 on a five-fight winning streak. Guillard also competed in losing efforts in the UFC against the likes of Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Jim Miller, Michael Johnson and Jamie Varner.

Unfortunately for Guillard, life after the UFC wasn't as kind.

He took a brief detour into WSOF after his 2014 loss to Johnson, and on the heels of his aforementioned victory over Cavalcante, Guillard earned a title shot against then-WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. However, the UFC vet missed weight by a whooping 3.6 pounds for the opportunity, turning it a non-title bout that resulted in the split decision loss that kicked off his winless stretch. He then went unsuccessful in four straight bouts under the Bellator banner, losing three of them and having his sole win overturned into a no-contest due to failed drug test in a 2016 bout against David Rickels.

Yet Guillard persevered onward, eventually moving up to middleweight for a bizarre and ill-fated matchup with future UFC champion Israel Adesanya in Australia. Guillard only fought one more time internationally after that, losing by first-round knockout to former PRIDE FC champion Takanori Gomi at RIZIN 11 in Saitama, Japan — another fight he badly missed weight for — but continued to unsuccessfully and repeatedly seek an end to his slump against fighters on the U.S. regional scene. Guillard also competed multiple times in bare-knuckle boxing, most recently dropping four straight bouts with BKFC.

Guillard followed up his in-cage retirement this past weekend with a pair of Facebook posts, basking in the spoils of the long-in-the-making victory.

"Went out the way I came in just as I Manifested!!! It's been and amazing career will always go out on top of the world. For all my HATERS I appreciate your HATEFUL WAYS all Love......YA OUT!!!!!

"This one was for my Pops, Beast, THE Monster, 3 I've lost. But the 3 that I started with Lost but never Forgotten. Warriors Live Forever!!!"

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