UFC 119's Jeremy Stephens believes Melvin Guillard will break first

by Steven Marrocco on Sep 25, 2010 at 11:25 am ET
It was at this past year's UFC fighter summit that lightweights Melvin Guillard and Jeremy Stephens first decided it would be a good idea for them to fight.

Guillard (24-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) beat Stephens (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) to the punch, so to speak, by publicly asking for a seal of approval on the matchup.

But while Stephens wasn't thrilled about being called out, he's not too bent out of shape. He doesn't think Guillard has the mindset to win when they meet Saturday at UFC 119.

"I know he's around a good camp and a good group of guys," Stephens told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "I just don't think he has the mentality to beat me. I don't think he's been through any of the wars that I've been through."

Stephens, a Des Moines native, wants to make it clear he's not trying to speak ill of his opponent. His likes Guillard on a personal level. But he does believe he's tougher mentally, and that's going to show inside the cage.

"When the fight doesn't go his way, he breaks," Stevens said of his opponent. "He looks for a way out. I'm not talking crap about him. That's just what everybody in the world sees when Melvin Guillard fights.

"You can't break me. You push the pace and you want to bring it at a higher level, that's just going to crank up my volume. I just feel like with the things that I've been through in my life, I can't and won't be mentally broken."

Stephens points to his most recent fight, a "Fight of the Night" meeting with Sam Stout at UFC 113, as proof of his toughness in the heat of battle. It was his second consecutive win after a two-fight slide to Joe Lauzon and Gleison Tibau that put his career on the rocks.

It rattled Stephens so much that he started a regimen to re-program his thoughts in training camp.

"When I'm preparing for my fights, I do this thing," Stephrns said. "Basically, it's a visualization; it takes you through different scenarios, and this guy's talking and he calms you down. What I really try to do in my training is leave it out there on the mat, but to also channel that energy and keep it inside me, so as I'm walking out and I'm getting in the octagon, that energy comes out.

"Because after those two losses in a row, I just don't ever want to feel that again. I just tell myself, 'This could be the last time you ever fight.' I want every performance from here on out to be my best."

Guillard, as well, has been on a path to re-invent himself. After tumultuous times in and outside of the octagon, he joined famed trainer Greg Jackson's stable in an effort to re-wire his preparation for fights. He has often credited the switch for his current two-fight win streak; most recently, he took out Waylon Lowe with a knee to the body and bested Ronnys Torres on points at UFC 109.

But Stephens said the change is just a band-aid on a bigger problem with focus.

"Melvin, he just goes to Greg Jackson on a six (or) seven-week notice and he thinks that's going to work for him," he said. "I have my guys around me full-time. They push me. Out here in San Diego, I just have my training partners and coaches.

"They're not the ones that are going to tell me, 'Let's go out.' They put me through a lot of pain and suffering, and I can't wait to go out there and put it on Melvin."

That's the win-win situation about Saturday night – both fighters love to get in there and slug it out.

"We're like two cars going down a one-way (street) - they're going to collide," he said.

But when they do, Stephens said, his engine will still be running.

"I think if I stay focused and stay where I'm at and keep continuing to get better, the sky's the limit for me," he said. "I don't have any limits on what I can do or how far I can take this. I'm really pushing myself these days. My whole focus is on Melvin Guillard, and of course, we'll talk after that with what's next."