Melvin Guillard on Bellator 141 Bout: “I’m No One-Trick Pony”

Melvin Guillard spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Brandon Girtz at Bellator 141. Check out the highlights:

On taking his career more seriously: “I just turned 32 this year, and I’m just hitting my prime, but I am getting older. For me right now, it’s about making money. Bellator is giving me the opportunity to make a lot of money. I don’t tell nobody else this, but I’ll take a quote from (Floyd) Mayweather when he said, ‘I’m a prize fighter. I fight for money.’ You can quote me on that. I’m a prizefighter. I fight to make a living. I’ve been doing this for 22 years, and I’ve made some decent money, but I haven’t made any great money. Right now I have the opportunity to make a lot of great money, not just through Bellator but things like endorsements that were taken away from us in the UFC – things I couldn’t get while I was in WSOF because most people don’t know what that organization is.”

On Girtz: “Hell no I hadn’t heard of him; I got to pick my fight. I love that about Bellator. They allowed me to pick my first fight. They had John Alessio on the list and a couple others guys I can’t think of off hand. Brandon Girtz, I had no idea who he was. I let the coaches look up all the guys and pick. They came up with Brandon. I watched a little bit of tape of him and thought it was perfect. He reminds me a lot of Waylon Lowe the way he fights. Everyone knows what I did to him. Everyone knows what I did to a lot of guys like Shane Roller, guys that are strong wrestlers that fight aggressive. They all get knocked out. For me, he’s the best candidate for my first KO of Bellator. When I signed with them people wanted to know if I could deliver highlight reels and big fights. Brandon is going to be my first victim.”

On his training camp: “I’ve been training hard as hell for this fight; I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in two years. I’m not coming into a fight with half a training camp. For the last three or four fights, I’ve been walking around at 185 and trying to cut to 155. I kept missing weight. Now I’m walking around at 169 comfortably. My weight cut is going to be a piece of cake. I’m going to be back to my old self.”

On Girtz trash-talking him: “He called me a one-trick pony; I got the fuel I needed to go in there and beat this kid up. Before that it was all about respect for the guy because I don’t know much about him. Then he called me a one-trick pony, so I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve if he thinks I’m a one-trick pony. I don’t get mad about things guys say because he’s got to say something to make himself relevant. Even the diehard MMA fans ask, ‘Who is this guy?’ Nobody knows who this guy is. He’s trying to beat me to get himself recognition for his career. I checked out his resume, and he hasn’t fought anybody that’s memorable. I’m going to be the toughest fight of his career. I know he’s training hard as sh-t. This guy is running his mouth, but first he’s got to be able to catch me. Then he’s got to be able to hit me, and how is he going to hit me? He’s the one that’s going to be sitting there trying to figure out what to do.”