UFC 119 Results - Melvin Guillard Barely Scrapes by Jeremy Stephens

This fight didn't go anything like so many had predicted. These two were expected to come in and let their hands go but both guys seemed unusually reserved. Guillard came out with a big overhand right and missed badly, leading to Stephens landing a shot that dropped him. Not a lot of action after that. Guillard had his running shoes on from the early going. Both guys were being patient, trying to find each other's timing. Stephens seemed to push the pace while Guillard was backing off a lot.

Stephens looked to work leg kicks to start the second. Guillard was easing back and clearly looking to land that big overhand right. He wasn't even setting it up. Stephens came in on Guillard but got shoved off. The crowd started to boo in this round while both guys sat back and waited for openings. They shared a few exchanges but nobody landed anything significant. The most meaningful action of the round were both guys trading shady nut shots. That says everything about the round and the fight as a whole.

They both raced to the center of the cage to start the third frame, making it look like they were going to come out strong. After the close first couple of rounds, it stood to reason that they would go after it. Nope. They rinsed and repeated the first two rounds with the crowd getting increasingly upset. All the fans who bought the PPV based on the Spike portion of the card had to be upset at this. Stephens finally landed a shot to the body that threw Guillard off balance but did nothing with it.

Guillard spent much of the night backing away and trying to set up his overhand right and never landing it. Still, the judges awarded him a split decision victory. It wasn't a robbery but Stephens pretty clearly won that fight.