Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce
Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez would love to be able to tell people that it was their mutual love of martial arts that first united them in friendship, but it isn’t true.
These days the top UFC welterweight contender and the Strikeforce lightweight champ seem like dedicated training partners who have successfully pushed each other toward a common goal, but it wasn’t always the case. Instead, it was their shared interest a completely different pursuit that first brought them together.
“Jake was looking for someone to party with,” Melendez recalled. “I was like, hell yeah.”
Then a student at San Francisco State, Melendez wasn’t the type to turn down that request, so the two future MMA champions got together over a drink or twelve.