Melvin Guillard vs. Ronnys Torres at UFC 109

In a lightweight bout that was originally scheduled for UFN 18 way back in April, brash power-puncher Melvin Guillard (22-8-2, 5-4 UFC) will face Nova Uniao standout Ronnys Torres (14-1), who's finally making his UFC debut after a series of major injuries, at UFC 109 in February.  Tatame has the report:

The Brazilian Ronnys Torres already has a date to debut on UFC. After eight victories in a row, five of them on the first round, the Nova União’s athlete will face Melvin Guillard on UFC 109, which takes place on February 6.

Torres suffered an knee injury while training for Guillard the first time back in April, forcing him off the Fight Night card.  After recovering, the Brazilian's debut was re-scheduled for UFN 19 in September against Jeremy Stephens, but another injury forced Torres out and Justin Buchholz in.  Now hopefully back to 100% (and likely crossing his fingers that he stays that way), the Andre Pederneiras-trained BJJ black belt will look to shake off any ring rust that might be affecting him, after not having fought since September of 2008.  With only two decisions in his fifteen-fight career, Torres has occasionally proven that he can knock people in addition to submitting them like he usually does, but against a power puncher like Guillard, Torres will almost certainly look for the takedown quickly.

Guillard has shown great promise throughout his lengthy career, but a series of missteps and poor decisions both in and outside of the cage have plagued the "Young Assassin" and led to inconsistency.  A gifted wrestler with very heavy hands, Guillard owns some of the most brutal KO wins in MMA, but his lack of submission defense and his very slowly developing ground game in general, have led to frequent criticisms regarding Guillard not taking his training seriously.  In his last fight against Nate Diaz at UFN 19, many expected Guillard to get submitted fast, but he showed off the improved takedown defense and ability to scramble to his feet that he often touted, while battering Diaz on the feet through the first round.  Unfortunately for Guillard, an inexplicable decision to feign being hurt and then charge in for a reckless takedown led to him being summarily choked out by Diaz in the second round.

Rumored UFC 109 card (February 6th, 2010, in Las Vegas):

Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg

Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller

Rolles Gracie vs. Mustapha Al-Turk

Melvin Guillard vs. Ronnys Torres