Guillard Talks About Suffering From Depression During WSOF Stint

Melvin Guillard has had his highs and lows throughout his mixed martial arts career. The twelve year veteran has fought for the likes of Bellator and World Series of Fighting, but his battle with depression started when he was cut from the UFC in 2014.

“When I got released, man, I was battling with my own mind,” Guillard told MMAFighting. “I was depressed. I didn’t even know if I wanted to fight anymore. I told my wife I didn’t want to fight anymore.”

Guillard ended up picking up a second job at a gentleman’s club while training just to make ends meet. “I took a security job working as a floor guy at a gentleman’s club out here,” said Guillard. “I hadn’t had a regular job in over 20 years. You know, everything I’ve been doing in the last 20 years has been just MMA. So that was hard to adjust to, I went from being my own boss to having to take a lot of crap from people, especially strippers and the management at this particular strip club I worked at, man. And it was just horrible.”

Guillard proceeded to sign with World Series of Fighting where he fought twice. Guillard won in spectacular fashion in his debut with the company, but lost to Justin Gaethje in what would have been a title bout if he had made weight.

“I got to a point where I didn’t even want to watch MMA anymore because, you know, it’s almost like I fell off the face of the earth,” Guillard said. “Last year it was like I almost didn’t even exist. The only time my name was even relevant was the two times I missed weight.”

Melvin Guillard recently signed a deal with Bellator and is gearing up for a return to the cage. Bellator is currently the second biggest promotion in the world right now as it airs on Spike, right behind UFC and FOX. Guillard hopes to eventually fight for the championship, even if it is against his teammate Will Brooks.

“Yeah, I feel bad about myself. I gave up an opportunity of a lifetime to fight for a title. But you know what? When I get a chance to fight for the Bellator title, fight my teammate Will (Brooks), if that day comes, I’ll be ready.”

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