Gilbert Melendez – image via Strikeforce.com
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert ‘El Nino’ Melendez (21-2) suffered a separated shoulder last week, forcing him out of an upcoming headlining fight with Pat Healy later this month in Sacrament, California.
With the injury to Melendez, Strikeforce officials felt they had little choice but to cancel the Sept. 29 event.
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, ‘El Nino’ revealed the nature of his injury, a separated shoulder which occurred during a sparring session with teammate Jake Shields.
“About 12 days out of the fight, I was training hard,” Melendez said. “[It was] one of my last days, last days of hard sparring. I was training hard and Jake Shields and I were battling on a takedown and I didn’t want to give it up. I landed hard on my shoulder and ended up separating my shoulder.”
While Melendez admitted that earlier in his career, he might have considered going on with the bout had such an injury occurred, he said it doesn’t make sense at this juncture.
“I can tough anything out,” he said. “If I had a broken leg, I’d tough it out, for my family, for my daughter, I’d do it in a heartbeat. That’s not what it came down to. It came down to, what is good for me, what is good for my career. I can let my ego take over like maybe in my younger years. But, it’s a business now and I had to treat it like a business. I could have gone out there and fought with one arm, but it’s not the best choice for my career and I don’t think Pat wants to win like that, I think most fighters in my situation would understand.”
This bout was to be the fifth straight lightweight title defense for Melendez, if you don’t include one interim title defense and unification bout. Melendez was last in action in May, earning a split decision over Josh Thomson in the third meeting of their career.