Melvin Guillard
Former UFC cable home schedules five-hour block
UFC fans will have plenty of Melvin Guillard this weekend, but only one of the many Guillard fights will be live.
Spike TV plans to counter-program UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller, which airs live Jan. 20 on the FX cable channel, with a Guillard “Unleashed” marathon with the hope of stealing away viewers from watching “The Young Assassin’s” live bout in Nashville, Tenn., against fellow lightweight contender Jim Miller.
The Guillard marathon will run from 7 p.m. Eastern until midnight on Friday. The UFC and Spike TV’s long-running relationship came to an end last year after the promotion reached a seven-year broadcasting deal with the Fox network, which owns FX and Fuel TV, the UFC’s new cable homes. In its original agreement, Spike retains the broadcast rights through 2012 to any UFC programming it has previously aired.
Guillard last fought at UFC 136, the event that halted his fast rise up the lightweight ladder. The striker was stopped by Joe Lauzon by submission in the opening round of the main-card contest.
Prior to that defeat, Guillard was on a five-fight winning streak that began at UFC 109 with his unanimous decision win over Ronys Torres. The streak also included key wins over Jeremy Stephens, Evan Dunham, and Shane Roller.