With the departure of Jake Shields to the UFC there’s no question that Strikeforce lost one of its top fighters, and a result, the promotion has one less guy that was in the ‘he could do some damage in the UFC’ mix. Although the Strikeforce roster isn’t littered with guys that are considered to be ‘cream of the crop’ fighters, not only is the promotion’s lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez a top ten ranked dude, a lot of pundits have him in the top three. Looks like Cesar Gracie’s doing something right huh?
After cruising to a Unanimous Decision victory of Shinya Aoki in April, who’s definitely no slouch, Melendez announced that he probably wouldn’t fight again until the end of 2010 (he has a little one on the way). Well, in a recent interview with Heavy.com Melendez revealed that he’s currently in negotiations with Strikeforce, and if not for the fact that he’s the lightweight champion, “El Nino” would be a free agent..
“Technically I’m not a free agent; there is a championship clause in my contract, but I always knew if I won my four fights me and Scott, the president of Strikeforce, my boss, we’re on great terms and I know we’ll come to an agreement. I plan on being with Strikeforce for a long time if possible.”
So what you might be asking? Well, Shields was able to cruise to what everyone and their dog believes were greener pastures in the UFC, because he didn’t have a championship clause. Now while Melendez continues to say nice things about his current promotion you can’t help but wonder, if not for the championship clause, what are the chances he’d be joining his buddy Jake in the Octagon?