Yahoo Movies BKFC books Melvin Guillard for Colorado event
Former UFC fighter Melvin Guillard has his next bare-knuckle boxing match on the books.
At BKFC 31 on Oct. 15, Guillard (2-6) will return against promotional newcomer Evgeny Kurdanov (4-0), the promotion recently announced. The event takes place at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colo., and streams on Bare Knuckle TV.
Guillard, 39, looks to snap a seven-fight losing skid across multiple combat sports in hopes of picking up his first BKFC victory. He most recently competed at BKFC Fight Night: Montana in October 2021.
Shortly thereafter, Guillard was booked to compete Feb. 19 vs. Ulysses Diaz. However, the Florida Athletic Commission in conjunction with the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) intervened to disallow Guillard from competing.
“After doing due diligence, the executive director Patrick Cunningham found a serious concern with the health of Melvin Guillard,” a statement issued by the ABC read. The association also placed Guillard on suspension pending a neurological exam.
According to MixedMartialArts.com, the official ABC database, Guillard is no longer under suspension. An ABC official didn’t immediately clarify why Guillard’s status was changed when reached by MMA Junkie.
Guillard enters his first combat sports competition in one year against Kurdanov, a 1-1 MMA pro who lists a 4-0 bare-knuckle record on his social media pages, including an Instagram account with 170,000 followers.
With the addition, the full BKFC 31 lineup includes:
Mike Richman vs. Isaac Doolittle
Brandon Girtz vs. Jake Lindsey
Josh Copeland vs. Levi Costa
Chris Camozzi vs. Bubba McDaniel
Melvin Guillard vs. Evgeny Kurdanov
Cory Madden vs. Christian Torres
Nolan McGlaughlin vs. Andrew Yates
Danny O’Connor vs. Van Vo
Gabriel Mota vs. Josh Todd
Khortini Kamyron vs. Crystal Pittman
Keegan Vandermeer vs. Jeb Vincent
