Former UFC fighter Melvin Guillard has laid down the gloves.
After 62 pro MMA fights, 22 of which came in the UFC Octagon, Louisiana’s Guillard retired from MMA in his home state just like Dustin Poirier did at UFC 318.
‘The Ultimate Fighter 2’ alum was on an 11-fight losing skid heading into his retirement fight against the undefeated Terry Wiggins at Raging FC 3 on Saturday night in Lake Charles, LA.
Guillard suffered back-to-back losses to undefeated prospects earlier this year, but ‘The Young Assassin’ would come out on top this time around, all at the age of 42.
Melvin Guillard TKO’s undefeated fighter for first win in 11 years
The 3-0 Wiggins shot for a takedown on Guillard in the first 10 seconds of the fight.
Guillard defended the takedown attempt, making him pay with elbows.
As Wiggins tries to clinch with Guillard against the cage, Guillard fires a brutal knee to the head to send Wiggins to the canvas.
Guillard unleashed ground and pound, and the referee stopped the contest.
The 42-year-old Guillard won by TKO in 24 seconds, avoiding a 12-fight losing skid in the process.
This is Guillard’s first MMA win in over a decade. The last time Guillard won by stoppage was in his WSOF debut against Gesias Cavalcante in 2014.
Melvin Guillard announces his retirement, dedicates career to late friend
Guillard knew going in this would be his final fight.
Guillard shared the cage with so many marquee names in the sport like Nate Diaz, Israel Adesanya, Justin Gaethje, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, Michael Johnson, Jeremy Stephens, and Jim Miller.
Guillard made his retirement official in his post-fight interview.
“First, I wanna dedicate my career, all my success, all my failures, the whole nine to a good friend of mine, Brandon Brewer, he 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 have to walk away from something that 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,” Guillard said.
“I just wanna say to all the young fighters coming up, follow your dreams. Don’t let nobody tell you you can not catch them,” Guillard added.