GUILLARD & STEVENSON'S PRE-FIGHT SHOWDOWN

By Mitch Gobetz

On April 5th, Melvin Guillard and Joe Stevenson will collide in a very intriguing match-up at The Pearl in Las Vegas. This fight is likely the number one contender match for the UFC Lightweight Title after Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca square off in July. Whoever wins this fight should be in consideration for the title shot as both fighters have rattled off impressive victories. But before they square off in the Octagon, Guillard and Stevenson faced each other in a verbal showdown on MMAWeekly Radio.

Last week, Guillard had accused Joe Stevenson of using human growth hormones. This was a surprising accusation considering that Stevenson has never been accused of anything like this in the past. Guillard explained his accusations on the radio show with Stevenson on the line at the same time.

“I heard a lot of people were doing it,” said Guillard. “I had some sources call me up and tell me that Joe is using it. If I falsely accused him, I’m sorry for that. I heard he was using it.”

Joe was eager to respond. “There’s no worries with that. There’s no truth to that. Things just get carried away. My dad died of bone-marrow cancer and one of the major side effects is cancer, and I’m deathly afraid of that,” Stevenson said sincerely. “Fighters are like girls, they talk so quick.”

Guillard has been training rigorously for this fight. He’s ready to take on the highly experienced Stevenson. “I’ve been training my ass off too, man. A lot of people don’t know I’m a wrestler, but I’m a state champion. I know your [Stevenson] little ass is gonna try to take me down and submit me, so I’ll be ready.”

Another issue brought up in the interview with Guillard was his confrontation with Rich Clementi. There have been a lot of rumblings on the forums about the animosity between the two. Once again, Guillard was eager to talk about it. “He called me all kind of racial names. Rich gets on the Internet, and I become much more of a known fighter back home. I guess he was jealous of me being on the Ultimate Fighter. He was basically saying that he made me who I am.

I told him in simple words, that when I see him, we’re gonna fight. I don’t care if it’s at church or at the grocery store. I saw him at the fights and he came up to me going, ‘hey, what’s up Melvin.’ I told him that we were gonna fight. I punched him and beat his ass. I just found out that he’s fighting at the Pearl. So if I see him at the hotel, if I think he’s coming at me in the wrong way, there’s gonna be a fight beforehand.”

Stevenson wasn’t hesitant to make a prediction about the fight. “I’m gonna try to knock him out in the first, if not the second. Then I’ll try in the third, and if I can’t knock him out, then I’ll be getting the decision.”

Of course, Melvin couldn’t let him have the last word. “There isn’t going to be any decision. I’m gonna knock you out.”

No matter which one of these two fighters win, the fans are guaranteed an explosive and high-energy fight, which always is a treat.