Former UFC Champion Melvin Guillard Charged With Denver Assaults

DENVER, CO – Former Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed-marshal-arts fighter Melvin Guillard appeared in Denver District Court Wednesday accused of punching people in two separate incidents at Denver bars. Guillard is also accused in Jefferson County of attempting to strangle a girlfriend in April and assaulting another man in Lakewood in 2017. Guillard is currently being held in Jefferson County jail on $5,000 bond.

In Denver, Guillard, 35, was charged Wednesday with second-degree assault for a bar brawl, captured on video, where he allegedly landed a punch that knocked a man cold around 2 am. Sept. 3 at Denver's Bar Standard, 1037 N. Broadway Street. Guillard allegedly struck three people, including a woman during the brawl, according to a police affidavit.

Guillard is also charged with second-degree assault for another incident on June 15 at the Ginn Mill, 2041 Larimer St. In that case, Guillard was working as a freelance bouncer, hired when the bar was short-staffed according to a police affidavit. Outside the bar area, Guillard knocked a man unconscious with one punch by striking him on the left side of the face with a closed fist, police said. The man suffered a broken orbital bone in two places on the left side of his face, police said.

Guillard was arrested Sept. 10 in Jefferson County after appearing in court for a domestic violence charge. He is accused of punching and trying to strangle a girlfriend in Lakewood on April 23. Guillard, who was married at the time, allegedly became angry when the girlfriend asked him if he would divorce his wife, according to a police affidavit. He was charged in Jefferson County with second-degree assault in that case and was released on $5,000 bond.

In the 2017 case, Guillard was arrested after allegedly repeatedly punching another man the evening of Sept. 30, 2017 in the driveway of a home in the 5600 block of West 5th Avenue. The victim told police the two exchanged insults, then Guillard exited his car and allegedly punched him in the face multiple times until he fell and blacked out, the police affidavit said. Gillard is charged with second-degree assault in Jefferson County for that case.

Guillard had a career as a mixed-martial arts fighter in the early 2010s, appearing on "The Ultimate Fighter," season 2 according to TMZ. Guillard had a record of seven knockouts in the lightweight division over his nine-year career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, according to Deadspin. He most recently fought MMA fighter Takanori Gomi this July in Japan.

Guillard is scheduled to appear in court for the Jefferson County cases on Oct. 10, according to the online court docket.

Image: Melvin Guillard via Denver County District Attorney's Office

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