UFC
Melvin Guillard gets what he asked for - Joe Lauzon bout at UFC 136 in Houston
Jul 16, 2011 - 9:30:02 AM Melvin Guillard gets what he asked for - Joe Lauzon bout at UFC 136 in Houston

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

October's UFC 136 card is an absolutely stacked MMA event on pay-per-view, and another lightweight fight confirmed for the card attests to that fact.

The UFC announced on Friday that the card, co-headlined by a Lightweight Championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and a Featherweight Championship bout in Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian, will also feature a lightweight matchup between Joe Lauzon and Melvin Guillard.

Guillard said in an interview following his UFC 132 knockout win over Shane Roller that Lauzon was a fighter he was interested in facing, and Lauzon was quick to express his willingness to take the fight as well. Now the UFC has made the fight, and the two will square off on the card.

Lauzon commented on the matchup in a blog post on his personal website, JoeLauzon.com.

"You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do. You have to go out and do it," Lauzon wrote. "Melvin Guillard said in a interview he was going to ask the UFC to fight me. I think the media blew it out of proportion a little bit and really ran with it saying he challenged me. I posted a blog saying if thats what the UFC wanted, then lets do it. I have always said, I will fight whoever they want. They are the bosses and they tell me who to fight."

"Yesterday, I got a call from Joe Silva saying that Melvin and I were making his job easy and that if I wanted the fight, he thought it would be exciting. I told him again, anything he wants. While no contracts have been signed, verbal agreements have been made."

Lauzon is coming off a "Submission of the Night" winning performance over Curt Warburton at UFC on Versus 4, where he nearly took the Brit's arm off with a vicious first round kimura. With Lauzon's submission game and Guillard's striking prowess, Lauzon expects someone to get finished in this fight.

"One way or another, someone is getting hurt," he wrote. "Pretty much all of his losses in the UFC are to submissions and thats where I really shine. While I’m sure he will be looking for the knockout bonus… I will be looking for the submission bonus. This fight is guaranteed excitement."

The event airs live on pay-per-view on October 8 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Penick's Analysis: This is a very good lightweight fight, and both fighters are entering off of impressive and decisive wins. Guillard continues to tread water with fights all on the same level as he waits for the top end to clear up a bit, but if he can pick up another impressive win in a row he can keep himself in line in the packed top end. For Lauzon, if he can halt Guillard's momentum he'll notch the biggest win he's had since his upset win over Jens Pulver in his UFC debut.