MMA veteran Melvin Guillard announced his retirement after delivering a knockout win against Terry Wiggins, breaking an 11-year winless streak.
The 42-year-old hadn’t secured a victory since 2014, but he decided to hang up his gloves following the long-awaited triumph. In a post-fight interview, Guillard confirmed it was his final bout.
“First, I wanna dedicate my career, all my success, all my failures, the whole nine to a good friend of mine, Brandon Brewer, who passed away a few years back,” Guillard said. “He’s my best friend. We started this together.
“I’ve been fighting three decades now, and it’s a bittersweet moment to walk away from something I found when I was only 10 years old in elementary school in ’93, when my teacher told me that being a UFC fighter was not a real job. Well, I’ve made more than six figures in this business, and I got a nice check on the way.
“I just wanna say to all the young fighters coming up, follow your dreams. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t chase them.”
Guillard added: “It’s that time. I have well over 200 fights, and it’s been a great run, but I’m ready to do something else.”
Guillard leaves competition with an MMA record of 33-24-2 (2 no-contests). Known as “The Young Assassin,” he became a star with the UFC in the 2000s after joining the promotion following his stint on The Ultimate Fighter 2. His peak came as a lightweight between 2008 and 2011, where he earned eight wins in nine fights, nearly earning a title shot with several highlight-reel knockouts.
However, Guillard struggled late in his UFC run, closing out his record there. After leaving the UFC, he never regained consistent form, winning only two of his last 14 MMA fights. He did find some success in bare-knuckle competition, scoring a pair of knockout wins, but ended with a 2-6 overall record, including a 0-4 stretch in BKFC.
