Melvin Guillard recently discussed a number of issues with Pramit Mohapatra of the Baltimore Sun. Reviewing the interview left me concerned. Concerned for Melvin’s grip on reality.

Mohapatra asked Guillard about his history with Rich Clementi. When asked about how things got so heated with his opponent leading up to their match at UFC 79, he said the following:

He’s just a snake. He’s a backstabbing bastard. He likes to get over on people. I grew up around him all my fighting career and I thought we would have been cool but he’s jealous of my success at an early age with The Ultimate Fighter and just stuff like that.

Clementi and Guillard were both 0-1 in TUF 4 and TUF 2 respectively. I’m not sure where Clementi’s supposed jealousy would stem from.

Discussing his fight with Clementi, he said that he doesn’t think that Clementi was the winner.

He really didn’t. He didn’t take my heart. I took his heart before he got in the ring. He was scared to fight me before he got in the ring. And, it’s like I tell everybody – and I’m going to keep saying it – when I see him again, I’m going to fight him again. When I get ready to go home for Mardi Gras, he just knows not to be seen. I went home for New Years and the places he wants to go, he wasn’t even there. He knew I was going to be there looking for him. He never showed up anywhere. As long as he keeps hiding from me, running from me, I’m winning the war every day.

Guillard sounds obsessive. It’s good that he’s winning this perceived war with Clementi as I’m not sure what he would do if he thought he was losing. It is truly unfortunate for him that the only time Rich won was in front of millions of fans in a sanctioned MMA fight.

Discussing the result of the fight even further, Melvin said:

I wasn’t surprised by the submission. I tried to shake him as much as I could off my back. But, he was holding on like a scared little bitch. He was holding on for dear life as if if he let me go, he knew he would lose the fight.

Isn’t that the point? That’s like a pitcher saying that the only reason a batter hit a home run was because he knew he’d strike out if he didn’t swing the bat.

After making Guillard submit, Clementi stood over him and grabbed his crotch. Melvin was asked if, given their history, he understood why Rich did this.

No, I can never understand that and nobody is ever going to make me understand that. He disrespected me after the fight. He put his nuts on the back of my head. When I catch him, I’m going to kick him in his [expletive deleted] nuts. I can’t look at that and respect that. Because of the beef we have? Naw, I can’t. That’s honestly like me seeing him next time … and I spit in his face. My dad always told me if a man spit on you or slapped you, [expletive deleted] kill him. And if he put his nuts on my head on national TV, I’m going to [expletive deleted] kill him, period. So, there’s no way I’m ever going to overlook that and be like, “Naw, it’s cool because we were having problems.” Hell no. I ain’t ever gonna let another man do that to me and get away with it.

I did not see any contact between Guillard’s head and Clementi’s testes. However most people would be upset if a scrotum was indeed placed on their head. But more to the point, if Rich Clementi turns up missing, I know who the cops will be visiting first.

When asked about his trash talking ways, Guillard’s response was humorous.

Is that what you think? Do you think I just talk trash? Do you think I’m just trash talking? What do you think? Yeah, I like to talk [expletive deleted] but I also back it up. I haven’t gotten my ass beat. I haven’t been in a fight yet where somebody has outclassed me or just beat me down.

Even funnier is his opinion of his status as a fan favorite:

I got booed before the fight, I got booed after the fight, but I’m still one of the crowd favorites.

When the discussion rolled around to Melvin’s eight-month suspension for a positive cocaine test, he was not convincing that his partying days are behind him. In fact he seemed quite clear that the problem was not his drug use, but simply that he got caught.

Well, it was a learning experience. I did a lot of growing up. I realized what was important. I had my fun. I happened to be the fighter that got caught. Like I said before, there are a ton of us that go out and party and have fun and do all those crazy things. I just happened to be the one to get caught. So, it was my bed — I had to lay in it.

2007 was a rough year. I had … bad luck. It’s behind me now. So, now I look forward to having a great 2008 and getting back on the winning track.

So, who is Melvin targeting going froward?

Well, I wanted to fight Roger Huerta, but they said he’s on vacation right now. So, that fight’s up in the air. Other than that, man, I don’t care. As long as they put me back in. I’d prefer to fight a few strikers for a while until I can get my jiu-jitsu game up. Because, my last two fights, they gave me mat rats — they just wanted to hug me. I get enough hugs at home. I want to fight some people that are ready to stand up and trade punches and kind of put me to the test.

It sounds like Melvin wants to be a boxer, not a UFC fighter. It should be clear that the first M in MMA stands for Mixed. Being good at one discipline and making fun of proponents of others does not make you a champion.

And he wants to fight Huerta, the SI cover boy with zero UFC losses to his credit? Melvin defeated Huerta in 2005 but it was overturned and ruled a no contest when the commission determined that Guillard “greased” himself before the fight.

I can understand that Melvin would want to avenge this decision, but given his recent won-loss record, it would be silly to expect a match against one of the UFC’s rising stars. In fact, Guillard’s record is why he and the UFC have come to terms allowing him to fight in other organizations.

One final statement stands out in this interview:

Without fighting, I don’t know what I’d be doing … I’d rob a bank or some [expletive deleted]. I’d probably do something that desperate because there’s nothing else I want to do.

With that, Guillard may have snapped back into reality.

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