Melvin Guillard explains what drives him despite rough stretch: ‘I’d rather go through the storms’

Melvin Guillard Esther Lin, MMA Fighting For a lot of fight fans, it might seem like Melvin Guillard fell off the face of the earth.

Much of that is his own fault. “The Young Assassin,” now a 36-year-old man who has been competing professionally in combat sports for two decades, hasn’t officially been in the win column in mixed martial arts since 2014 (a knockout of David Rickels in Bellator was marred by Guillard later testing positive for a banned substance) even though he’s been as active as ever. And then there’s the 13 months he spent in prison after being involved in a bar brawl last September.

Losing. Having your name in the headlines for the wrong reasons. That’s a combination that…