August 11, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Melvin Guillard before the start of the fight against Donald Cerrone (not pictured) during UFC 150 at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

UFC Fight Night 37 features a fantastic main card for fans in London, England this weekend. In the co-main event, former training partners, Michael Johnson and Melvin Guillard, will face off in a critical Lightweight bout. While the trash talk has been kept to a minimum thus far, things heated up in recent interviews with both men.

“To be honest I never really cared for the guy as a person”, Guillard told FanSided about his former teammate, Michael Johnson. “He is a good fighter, but as a person he is a bit of a douche. He is not one of my favorite people in the world, so I’m excited to get in there and beat him up. I am the one who asked for the fight. Once Ross pulled out, I asked for Michael Johnson. It is a fight that I have been wanting and I am going to make sure I am ready for it.”

When asked about who got the better of whom in training Guillard had this to say:

The majority of the time we went at it. I was always the stronger and bigger guy. I am definitely the harder hitter. Mike is quick though man. He is always in shape and I know he will be ready. He is going to train for this fight as if he is going to train for a championship fight because I am not an easy fight for anybody. That being said, I think it plays into my favor because all the nerves will be with him. I am not nervous at all going into this fight. I know what I need to do to be ready. I need to be in cardio shape and nobody can beat me. When I am in shape nobody beats me.

Michael Johnson caught wind of Guillard’s comments in an separate interview with FanSided, and got quite the laugh hearing what Guillard had to say: “That is funny man. He can call me a douche, or say I am this or that type of person. It comes down to this: he has never said that to my face, and he never will say that to my face because he knows what will happen if he does. He knows there will be a problem. He can say that to the cameras and in interviews, but man to man he will never say it and I will be waiting for him to say it to my face. With that being said, Melvin is going to be Melvin.”

Johnson also discussed Melvin as a former teammate:

He was on the team for a little bit. I helped him, I wanted him to succeed because he was a teammate. He is a good fighter, of course everybody knows Melvin can fight. I got the utmost- it is hard for me to say that I respect somebody that said something about me like that, so I won’t say that I have all the respect in the world for him. I respect him as a fighter, and we are going to fight and we will see how it is. I am not going to say we are great friends, and to him it doesn’t sound like we’re friends at all. That is okay with me because I have got enough friends and I don’t need any new ones. I will let Melvin talk and run his mouth and sell the fight. I have no problem with Melvin, we are going to go in there and fight.

As for Guillard’s comments about him being the stronger man in training, Johnson had this to say: