Melvin Gillard is finally putting away the gloves for good.
The 42-year-old just secured his first win in 11-years when he beat Terry Wiggins via knockout at Ragin FC 3. Following that impressive win, Gillard has opted to call it quits as he’s confirmed his official retirement from MMA. He confirmed the news during his post-fight interview.
“It’s that time,” Guillard said. “I have well over 200 fights and it’s been a great run, but I’m ready to do something else.”
This is actually in line with his MMA Junkie interview ten years earlier as Gillard stated that he wanted to retire between the ages of 42 - 45.
"I want to get myself set for retirement and when I'm done with fighting; I feel like I still have at least another 10 years of fighting," Guillard said. "People say that's too long, but I want to fight until my body can't fight anymore. When it's over and it's done and I retire, there's no going back. I know a lot of guys who retire too young, too early. Once the sport is done, it's done.
"I've been fighting since I was 13 years old. If I can fight until I'm 42, maybe 45; I'm happy with that. For as long as my body allows me. From here on out I want to be more attentive to the business side of it as well as the fight of it. I'm 32 and I want to be able to make a couple million dollars and get filthy rich off of Bellator."
While getting filthy rich off of the Bellator part didn't come to fruition, Melvin did achieve his goal of fighting until 42. Gillard first became notable for his time on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. He didn’t win, but he did secure a contract with the UFC.
Following a loss to Nate Diaz, Gillard did go on an impressive five-fight winning streak from 2010 to 2011, but his UFC 136 loss to Joe Lauzon changed the trajectory of his career. Gillard started taking more losses than wins and was eventually released in 2014.
He continued to fight in World Series of Fighting and rebounded with a win over Gesias Cavalcante, but a loss to pre-UFC Justin Gaethje is what set off his 11-fight skid. Guillard would bounce around to several promotions including Bellator, but it was clear that he had regressed from his early days as a fighter due to father time. Nevertheless, despite his historic losing streak, Gillard still ends his career with a solid record of 33 wins, 24 losses, and 2 draws.