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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The Justin Gaethje vs. Melvin Guillard fight at WSOF 15 is no longer a title bout after Guillard failed to make weight on Friday.
According to several published reports, Guillard has been fined 50% of his purse - which was negotiated with the organization, per Jason Floyd of TheMMAReport.com - and the fight is now a three-round catchweight bout.
Per Ali Abdel-Aziz, the fight is a go. Gaethje/Guillard is now a 159 lb catchweight bout, 3 Rd. Guillard fined 50%. Bout agreement signed
Guillard has now missed weight in both of his appearances for WSOF, as he came in at 157 lbs. for his debut but with JZ Cavalcante. He weighed in at 158.8 lbs. today for what was supposed to be a fight for Gaethje's title, and only lost an additional .2 lbs. with the time he was given.
Penick's Analysis: This is unbelievably ridiculous, especially with how much Guillard's been trying to feel superior to Gaethje and the WSOF as an organization. A 50% fine is craziness, but at this stage it's understandable given the fact that Guillard didn't do what he was contracted to do. Fighters missing weight this egregiously are lucky to have their opponent accept the fight. It's not necessary for Gaethje to go through with the fight as a non-title bout, but he wants to get paid as well. Guillard's embarrassed himself here, and thrown away a perfectly good opportunity.
Update: According to Ali Abdelaziz, via this Tweet from Josh Gross, Gaethje's camp demanded the 50% from Guillard's purse to take the fight. Good on him. More fighters should make that demand in situations like this.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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