UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard recently left the Blackzilians training camp. He planned to return to Jackson’s MMA, but wasn’t welcomed back to his former team. Now, Guillard has found a home at Grudge Training Center in Colorado.

Guillard spoke with MMAWeekly.com content partner Knockout Radio about his departure from the Blackzilians, the situation with Team Jackson’s, and his future at Grudge.

“Ultimately what lead me to leave was just, I felt in my heart that I couldn’t win with that team. They’re a great group of guys, the coaches are world renowned, but the chemistry for me, there was no recipe for success,” said the 30-year-old fighter about his decision to part ways with the Blackzilians.

“When I step into a gym, I want to have a game plan all the way through. I want to see it through and I want to have coaches that will be on my side on my hip, day in and day out, and I didn’t really have that with a lot of coaches there. The only coach that I have that relationship with physically right now is Dr. Ryan Tripp. He’s my judo coach. So no matter what team I end up at, he’s always going to be in my corner,” added Guillard.

“They’re a great group of guys. They have so much talent on that team, but I just felt in my heart, me personally, that I couldn’t win with that team. So I just had to move on,” he said. “It was a mutual understanding. I didn’t get to say goodbye to all the guys, but I got to talk with Glenn (Robinson), who is the owner. I got to talk with some of the coaches there and I just felt it was time for Melvin to move on and look for something bigger and better.”

Guillard made the announcement about his leaving the Blackzilian camp on March 24 via Twitter. Included in the tweet was his intention of returning to Team Jackson-Winkeljohn. To his surprise, he was not welcomed back to the team he left following his first round submission loss to Joe Lauzon at UFC 136 in October 2011.

“That was a little bit of a slap in the face right there,” explained Guillard. “I was excited about that and I honestly thought that’s where I was going to end up and I started seeing tweets seeing they voted me out and this and that.”

Guillard reached out to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone to get to the bottom of why he wasn’t allowed to return.

“If you want real truth and the truth of everything, you always call Cowboy (Donald Cerrone). I reached out to Cowboy and he said yeah a couple people voted against it, a lot of people were for it. But then I talked to Coach Greg eventually and he said some of the guys were on a different page and maybe in the future, if we can get some of those guys back on the same page, then they have no problem with me coming back then, but now is just not a good time,” he said.

“Those were the words of Coach Greg Jackson and I took it on the chin; it was cool. It hurt my feelings a little bit, but at the same time, it was nobody’s fault but my own. I left Jackson’s and I think my timing was so bad. I left during a time that was so bad. I left during the time when Jon Jones and Rashad Evans were beefing and they were fighting and it was almost like, if you were outside looking in, you would definitely say you chose Rashad over Jon. That’s how I made myself look and I understand how they felt. So it’s no big deal.”

Guillard is now training at the Grudge Training Center in Colorado, an affiliate gym to Jackson’s MMA, under the guidance of head trainer Trevor Wittman.

“Being here in Denver, it’s the next best thing to being at Jackson’s, if not the best thing for me. God always has something in store for everybody and I just think right now me landing in Denver is probably what he had in store for me. There’s no love lost to Jackson’s. I still care about those guys the same way,” Guillard added.

Guillard doesn’t feel the relationship between the two camps will present any problems.

“We sat down and talked for about an hour and we laid everything out on the table. (Wittman) is here to help me. I’m here to get better, and I’m here to help this team get better as well, so I know there won’t be any problems with that,” he said.

At the end of the day, Guillard is happy to be at Grudge, but feels there’s things that still need to be resolved between himself and Jackson’s MMA.

“I still feel like I left a piece of me in Albuquerque. There’s some personal things in Albuquerque I need to fix before, definitely before I go back to the team anyway. So with that being said, I’m happy with where I’m at. My wife is happy for me and if me and my wife are on the same page, then I’m fine with whatever decision I make.”

MMAmania.com has a complete breakdown and analysis of Justin Gaethje’s huge lightweight victory over Gesias Cavalcante in the opening bout of the World Series of Fighting 2 main card. How did he remain unbeaten? Find out below.

One of MMA’s brightest young lightweight prospects got the opportunity of a lifetime last night (March 23, 2013) as unbeaten Justin Gaethje took on longtime veteran Gesias Cavalcante in the opening bout of the World Series of Fighting II main card in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

A lesser prospect may have been intimidated by Cavalcante’s track record, which has spanned over nine years and saw him reach the pinnacle of the top 155-ers in the sport, but Gaethje was having none of it, going after “JZ” from the opening seconds all the way until the fight was stopped.

Gaethje attacked Cavalcante with punches and kicks so aggressively that he was knocking himself off balance, popping back to his feet before the Blackzilian could react and going right after him again with a steady tide of heavy blows.

His aggression paid off as Cavalcante seemed caught completely off guard and was overwhelmed in the clinch, eating a torrent of uppercuts and knees.

Cavalcante tried to hang on, perhaps work for a takedown, but by the midway point of the first round a gash had opened up so heavily on his forehead that it needed to be addressed by the cageside physician.

The placement of the cut over the luta livre fighter’s left eye was not a good and when the doctor opened up the cut to get a better look, it was obvious that the gash was very deep and was not going to be simply clotted up with vaseline. The doctor’s hand was forced and the bout was stopped, giving Gaethje his eighth straight victory to start out his career.

Resurrection Fighting Alliance on Friday night landed in Denver for the first time, partnering with regional promotion, Ring of Fire, at the 1stBank Center for RFA 7: Thatch vs. Rhodes.

The night’s main event featured top welterweight prospects Brandon Thatch and Mike Rhodes.

Thatch – an extremely popular fighter in Denver and a training partner of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre – started chopping away at Rhodes with kicks, but the Roufusport fighter scored a well-timed takedown.

Thatch then turned the tables, taking top position in Rhodes’ half guard and started pummeling him with punches and elbows. He soon passed to side control and then took Rhodes’ back, sinking in a rear naked choke for the finish just over two minutes into the fight.

“This is my city man. Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” barked Thatch after the win.

Thatch has been one of most highly touted welterweights not designated a UFC fighter, but Joe Silva, Sean Shelby, he’s ready for the phone call whenever you are.

“You’re not a big dog until you’re in the UFC,” said Thatch. “So when they’ll have me, I’d love to go.”

Invicta FC has had a fantastic freshman year. Under the strict, meticulous control of Shannon Knapp, the promotion saw three very successful events in 2012, and will be having a graduation of sorts on January 5th, with their very first PPV stream. The largest part of the promotion’s success is obviously the talent pool, which is a gathering of some of the most elite female athletes in the world. It’s a place where the ladies are given a platform of their own to shine on.

One such athlete, who’s recently been making some noise on the amateur circuit and will make her pro debut at Invicta FC IV, is Rose Namajunas. At only 20 years old, she already has a pristine, 4-0 amateur record, and will debut against tough, 2-0 Emily Kagan. I recently spoke with Rose about her upcoming breakout on the women’s MMA scene and life with the crowd pleasing, Pat Barry (her boyfriend).

Invicta

I think what Invicta is doing is just a beautiful thing. We’re being given an amazing opportunity, whereas before, we had to struggle just to get on a regular card, and outperform ourselves, just because all these other men are fighting on the same card. Even then, a lot of the times, the women’s fights ended up being more exciting than the men’s fights. Invicta is featuring nothing but women, and giving us all a chance to shine. Their crowd atmosphere is so much different than any other organization that I’ve been to. Everyone is so much more supportive of the athletes. It’s just really awesome.

Escaping the shadow of Pat Barry

I definitely want to be known for more than just being with him. I mean, obviously, the world has no choice but to mention his name when mine is in the picture, but eventually, it’s got to be just about me. When I knock some people out, it’ll be all about me [laughs]. It’s cool with me and all, but having my name mentioned because of what I do, rather than just attached to his name is probably better.

Career future and children

I don’t know how you can get in the ring with a two month old baby or whatever. It might be kind of difficult to focus on a fight if you have this little baby to think about. I don’t know. I definitely want to see where I am. I’m so young right now, and a lot of women are way older than me, and they’re just making their pro debut. It’s definitely something that I’ve thought about, but I don’t like to have a road map of my life. I’m not one of those women that says, ‘When I’m 20 years old, I’m gonna get married. When I’m 25 years old, I’m gonna have kids.’ I’m just not one of those types of people. We have been talking about getting a dog, though [laughs].

Emily Kagan

From what I have seen of her online fight footage, she’s a lefty, she’s gonna be shorter than I am, and she might be coming in pretty big for the fight, because she has fought at 125 and 135. This is her first time at 115. She has a big overhand left, but other than that, I think she’s going to go for the takedown, and maybe try for some ground and pound.

Especially coming from Greg Jackson’s camp, with the reputation that they have. I’m not trying to talk bad about them, but a lot of people have criticized them for having a gameplan or strategy that’s about getting the win without really trying to get a finish. I don’t know if that’s necessarily true or not, but all those things tie in together, combined with the fact that her last couple of fights have been decision wins. Obviously, I need to be prepared for anything. I’m still going in there with the same mentality of, I’m going in there to finish you.

Ronda Rousey

She’s definitely an inspiration, and I find that a lot of what comes out in her interviews, I can relate to. Her mentality, and that intimidation factor … she’s going in there to kill you, pretty much. I can relate to that, and I do look up to her, in that aspect, and in what she’s been able to do. She’s opened the gate for a lot of women, and I respect that. I plan to build on that and add to it. The possibilities are endless.

LAS VEGAS – What a difference a round makes.

After being in plenty of trouble on the ground against Shane Del Rosario in the first round, Barry changed things up, and did so in a hurry in the second, notching a devastating knockout just 26 seconds into the round.

The heavyweight bout was part of the main card of The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale event at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It aired on FX following prelims on FX and Facebook.

Both fighters worked kicks early, not surprisingly, before the taller Del Rosario tied Barry up and muscled him to the fence. The two traded better position on the fence with del Rosario looking for knees and Barry hoping to throw Del Rosario off. Midway through the frame, he finally did and the two went back to trading in the middle.

Around the 2-minute mark, Del Rosario shot for a takedown and eventually got the fight to the ground. He looked for Barry’s back and got it, then looked for a rear-naked choke or a possible neck crank. Although Barry was able to shake Del Rosario off for a moment, Del Rosario was able to keep the dominant position most of the rest of the round.

No doubt looking for a change of pace in the second round, Barry landed an over-the-top left hand that had Del Rosario wobbled. Barry moved in and landed two rights, a left and then one more right hand that drilled Del Rosario in the chin and put him on his backside on the fence. Referee Kim Winslow was in to stop things immediately.

The end came at 0:26 of the second round.

“It’s a rough ride coming out here. Anybody who says they don’t get nervous before a fight is a liar. I’m feeling ridiculously emotional. I’m throwing heat, or I’m throwing nothing. I’m either winning all the way, or I’m losing all the way. There’s nothing in between. I was debating (rushing in) because the last time I rushed somebody, I thought I won and I woke up and Cheick Kongo really won.”

Barry (8-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) gets back in the win column and gets back to level at 5-5 in the UFC with the win. After a 3-0 run in Strikeforce, Del Rosario (11-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) now has dropped two straight since moving over to the UFC.