Melvin Guillard vs Evan Dunham
On a night when Mark Hominick punched his way to a title shot, Melvin Guillard made sure he wasn’t overlooked by putting on a scintillating performance against Evan Dunham on Saturday at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.
Hominick needed to defeat George Roop on the nationally televised Ultimate Fighting Championship card Saturday in order to earn a shot at the featherweight title – currently held by Jose Aldo, at UFC 129 in April.
Hominick came through with a dominant performance, pummeling George Roop and stopping him at 1:28 of the first round.
But two fights later, Guillard edged himself into lightweight title contention with arguably the best performance of his career, a first-round stoppage of the highly regarded Dunham.
Guillard knocked Dunham down with a big right hand behind a jab, then finished him with a series of knees while Dunham was helpless against the cage. Referee Mario Yamasaki jumped in to halt the carnage at 2:58 of the first.
- Melvin Guillard.
Nearly everyone in the Ultimate Fighting Championship dismissed Evan Dunham’s previous defeat as the product of poor judging, but there’s no doubt about this one.
Melvin ‘The Young Assassin’ Guillard pummeled Dunham to get the technical knockout 2:58 into main of UFC’s Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hood, Texas. Guillard (27-8-1, 1 no contest) recorded his fourth consecutive victory, and seventh in his last eight fights.
His opponent suffered his second loss in as many fights, though many observers (including Guillard and UFC President Dana White) believed Dunham (11-2) deserved the judges’ nod that went to Sean Sherk in their September bout.
This time, Guillard relied on outstanding balance and takedown defense to neutralize Dunham’s attempts to grapple, then finished him off with fast hands and knee strikes.
The beginning of the end came after Dunham absorbed several hammerfists to the face while attempting a single-leg takedown. A right uppercut to the face as Dunham was bent over sent him reeling, and Guillard followed it with a knee to the face that staggered Dunham.
Dunham slumped to the mat against the fence after taking a second knee strike to the head. Referee Mario Yamasaki moved in to halt the fight a moment later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp0pbNG6NDE
Dana White can’t call Evan Dunham undefeated anymore.
Dunham came into the main event of Saturday night’s UFC Fight for the Troops 2 event with an 11-1 record officially, but pretty much anyone who had their eyes open during Dunham’s fight against Sean Sherk in September was aghast that the split decision went against him. White was among the most relentless in referring to Dunham as an unbeaten fighter. And if you’re employed by the UFC and the big boss man says you’re unbeaten, then you’re unbeaten.
But not any longer. Melvin Guillard [27-8-2, 1 NC] made sure of that, using a refined combination of patience and explosiveness to hand Dunham a loss that no one is going to question. The end came just 2 minutes and 59 seconds in, with Guillard using straight punches and hard knees to put Dunham on the canvas, then connecting with a couple of more knees before referee Mario Yamasaki jumped in.
As the crowd of some 6.000 military men and women at Fort Hood in the small city of Killeen, Tex. stood and cheered, Guillard was quick to return the love. When TV announcer Joe Rogan stepped into the cage for an interview, Guillard ignored his first question and instead addressed the helicopter hangar full of soldiers. “I really want to say thank you so much for everything you guys do” – he said. “My uncle was a four-star brigadier general in the Army, retired. I love you guys. And, you know, if I can come in here for under 15 minutes and give you guys a good show, I’m proud of myself.”