Evan Dunham vs Melvin Guillard
Evan Dunham really needs a strong showing tonight against Melvin Guillard if he wants to stay in the UFC's lightweight title discussions. He's coming off the first loss of his career back at UFC 119 with Sean Sherk in a razor thin decision — a score that many pundits found controversial.
Guillard has improved leaps and bounds since making the move to Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in Albuqurque but I just don't think he has enough on the ground to tangle with a BJJ black belt of Dunham's caliber. There's a reason Guillard has dropped seven of his eight losses by submission.
He may have one of the longest active tenures in the UFC but Guillard hasn't faced the kind of competition to warrant title talk. His win column is a who's who of some of the UFC's most unspectacular and three of his four losses are to fighters who are no longer employed by Zuffa. I'm including Joe Stevenson into that group as it is clearly only a matter of time.
If Melvin takes this fight, all the more power to him. He's looked better in each and every fight over the last year or so and knocking off Dunham would be huge for his career. I just don't see it happening tonight. Dunham is still undefeated in my eyes. Guillard is going to have to rely on his athleticism to keep this fight standing. If not? Dunham will walk out of the octagon with more appendages than he came in with.
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