Melvin Guillard is facing a felony assault charge from 2017, in addition to four felony charges from two separate incidents this year, MMA Fighting has learned.
The mixed martial arts veteran is being accused of breaking a former friend’s orbital bone in a brutal beatdown in September 2017, per an affidavit obtained from the Jefferson (Colo.) County District Attorney’s Office. Guillard is being charged with second-degree assault and a violent crime count, which is a potential sentence enhancer in Colorado.
Per the incident report from the Lakewood Police Department, Jeffery Ortega said he and Guillard got into an argument outside Ortega’s home on Sept. 30, 2017. Ortega told police that he called Guillard a “bitch,” which prompted Guillard to punch him in the face, knocking him unconscious. Ortega said a witness told him that Guillard punched him in the face at least five more times while he was on the ground unconscious.
There was a juvenile witness to the alleged assault, whose name was redacted in the affidavit, according to Jefferson County DA spokesperson Pam Russell.
Ortega told police that he knew Guillard for about six months prior to the alleged attack and befriended him. The argument stemmed from what Ortega described as Guillard making multiple passes at Ortega’s girlfriend, including “several sexual advances via Facebook.” Ortega said he and Guillard exchanged text messages of “talking shit” in the days leading into the alleged attack.
Ortega told officers that his friend Paul showed up at Ortega’s home the night of Sept. 30, 2017 and he got into a verbal confrontation with him. Ortega said he escorted Paul from his house and when he got outside he noticed Guillard in a parked car. Guillard got out of the car and that’s when the altercation started, Ortega said.
At a local hospital, Ortega was treated for a fractured left orbital bone, a laceration under his left eye and a nasal fracture, per the affidavit. Ortega needed stitches and a metal plate surgically placed to repair his orbital bone, he told police.
Guillard, 35, is currently being held on $10,000 cash bond in Jefferson County on four charges stemming from another incident — an alleged bar attack that occurred Sept. 3. Guillard allegedly knocked out at least one man at Bar Standard in Denver and is facing three counts of second-degree assault, all felonies, and third-degree assault. TMZ was the first to report that information, including surveillance footage of the alleged melee.
Guillard was arrested on those charges Sept. 10 while he was in court for yet another alleged attack. The former UFC, Bellator and WSOF veteran allegedly strangled his girlfriend in April. He’s facing charges of second-degree assault (strangulation), a felony, and misdemeanor domestic violence for that alleged incident.
The New Orleans native is due in court Oct. 10 on both the 2017 assault charge with the violent crime count and the alleged domestic violence charges from April, Russell said.
Guillard holds a 32–21–2 (3 NC) record in MMA. He just fought at Rizin 11 in July, falling to Takanori Gomi by first-round knockout. Guillard has not won a fight since 2014, a string of nine winless bouts.
The lightweight and welterweight fighter, Guillard was in the UFC from 2005, when he was on The Ultimate Fighter 2, until 2014.