Bellator tried to sign Gilbert Melendez last year. Now, they’ll be employing his better half.
Keri Anne Melendez, the wife of the UFC star, has signed with Bellator MMA, promotion officials confirmed with MMAFighting.com on Thursday. Bleacher Report was the first to report the story.
Melendez, who has yet to make her pro MMA debut, is a professional Muay Thai competitor and she’ll be making her debut in that format for Bellator. Melendez will compete at Bellator: Dynamite on Sept. 19 in San Jose in a kickboxing match. The show will be hybrid of Bellator’s MMA product and GLORY kickboxing. She will later make a transition to MMA.
Melendez, 31, is 2-1 as a pro Muay Thai fighter after amassing a 4-1 record as an amateur. She has competed on kickboxing shows run by Bellator president Scott Coker in the past. Melendez does not yet have an opponent for Dynamite, which is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Liam McGeary and Tito Ortiz.
In 2014, Bellator signed Gilbert Melendez, but the UFC had a right to match the offer and did. Gilbert Melendez, a former Strikeforce champion, is regarded as one of the best lightweights in the world, despite two straight losses. Last month, he failed a drug test following a defeat at UFC 188 to Eddie Alvarez and has been suspended for one year.