Melvin Guillard is ready to take on the world, well at least the top of the lightweight division.

The 155-pound dynamo from New Orleans is on a roll and he's putting away opponents in impressive fashion.

The latest victim was Shane Roller in less than two and half minutes. That makes it five straight wins, three of them by first round KO or TKO. Guillard says it proves he's the top dog at 155, not the UFC champ Frank Edgar or No. 1 contender Gray Maynard.

"I am the best 155er," Guillard said sternly. "I'm a finisher. I got no disrespect towards Frankie Edgar or Gray [Maynard] but they proved in the last fight when fought each other ... Gray had him on his heels and didn't finish. I'm a finisher. I go in there for the kill. I smell blood."

Guillard, 28, has experienced some pretty intense highs and lows in and out of the Octagon. That includes issues with drug addiction as an adult, and a strict upbringing as a child.

"I guess you could say I've been through so much in my life [that] getting in the cage, swinging hands and putting people away, that's easy. Growing up with a mother, who was baptist minister, whipping me all the time, that's the stuff I'm afraid of," said Guillard.

In the middle of 2009, Guillard was just 6-4 in the UFC. After a loss to Joe Stevenson at Ultimate Fight Night 9, he tested positive for cocaine. He was also submitted in all of those losses. Guillard was far from mentally right.

"I always go back and remember what Dana told me, 'kid get your [expletive] together, you could be great.' I put myself in rehab, got my [expletive] together," said Guillard.

The former party animal is a changed man.

"[I've] got a beautiful wife, more of a family man now. I'm not hanging out in the streets. I play more golf in the daytime than I see nightlife now. It wasn't like that [in the past]. I was always in the clubs before. [Now] I go to dinner with the wife, movies ... you know, I'm doing the family thing."

Before the fight, Guillard said that he's so into golf, he'd love to play professionally when he's done fighting. He's already shooting in the 80's, but for now the sticks will remain second in line. Guillard, said he'll be back in the gym this week in Albuquerque, where he trains at Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts. He wants to fight in October on the UFC card in Houston.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Best-lightweight-in-the-world-Guillard-says-he-?urn=mma-wp4395

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Source: http://www.fightmatrix.com/2011/07/08/generated-historical-rankings-now-searchable/

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