There’s something in the water at lightweight that is making fighters restless. Everyone in the weight class seems to want to fight elsewhere; everyone elsewhere wants to join it.
When Jose Aldo fights Anthony Pettis this August, it will mark the second straight time a featherweight title challenger has been plucked directly from the lightweight division. Interestingly, it is assumed Aldo will one day soon make the jump upward.
Divisional champion Ben Henderson himself recently expressed an interest in moving up to compete against welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre.
Even current 170-pound title contender Nick Diaz has got in on the action, stating his willingness to fight Henderson for his title.
As the divisional lines that separate the UFC’s lightweight division from the rest of the classes out there continue to blur more and more, it is enough to put ideas in one’s head. Namely, ideas about inter-divisional superfights.
Taking up this theme and running with it, we’ll examine an intriguing fantasy-style matchup between Jose Aldo and Gilbert Melendez. We will look at which of the men holds an edge in the striking, wrestling and submission realms of MMA, and determine what outcome the pairing would be likely to produce.
For the sake of detail, we’ll assume the bout goes at 155 pounds.