Tag: gilbert melendez

Strikeforce Champ Gilbert Melendez Brutalizes Tatsuya Kawajiri

Filed under: StrikeforceStrikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez made short work of Tatsuya Kawajiri on Saturday night, pummeling him with powerful strikes and finishing him with brutal elbows to the head on the ground to win a first-round tec…

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Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez made short work of Tatsuya Kawajiri on Saturday night, pummeling him with powerful strikes and finishing him with brutal elbows to the head on the ground to win a first-round technical knockout.

Melendez beat Kawajiri in a close decision in Pride in 2006, but there was nothing close this time around: Melendez dropped Kawajiri with punches in the opening seconds of the first round, blasted him with knees in the Thai clinch, took control on the ground and eventually finished the fight with vicious elbows.

Scott Coker Discusses Diaz vs. Daley Results, What’s Next for Gina Carano

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SAN DIEGO — MMA Fighting spoke to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker about Saturday night’s Strikeforce fights, his take on the main event, what’s next for Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez, why he thought Gegard Mousasi won his fight against Keith Jardine, the organization’s upcoming show on June 18 and why Gina Carano‘s opponent had to pull out of their scheduled fight.

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SAN DIEGO — MMA Fighting spoke to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker about Saturday night’s Strikeforce fights, his take on the main event, what’s next for Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez, why he thought Gegard Mousasi won his fight against Keith Jardine, the organization’s upcoming show on June 18 and why Gina Carano‘s opponent had to pull out of their scheduled fight.

Gilbert Melendez Believes Accomplishments Greater Than Edgar’s and Maynard’s

Ok, so last night turned out to be yet another epic night for the Cesar Gracie lads, as both Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez defended their belts with first round, stoppage wins. While things looked a little dicey for Nick on a couple of occasions, after getting ‘invited’ to the mat by Paul Daley’s fists, […]

Gilbert Melendez

Ok, so last night turned out to be yet another epic night for the Cesar Gracie lads, as both Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez defended their belts with first round, stoppage wins. While things looked a little dicey for Nick on a couple of occasions, after getting ‘invited’ to the mat by Paul Daley’s fists, the welterweight pulled out the win in ‘this is effin awesome’ fashion. Gilbert’s performance? Well, it was a little bit more, shall we say, flawless, as he hardly worked up a sweat while viciously beating down Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Understandably, the lightweight champ was pretty amped up after the win, which lets remember, came over a guy in Kawajiri who dominated Josh Thomson this past December. Melendez has always maintained that he can hang with the UFC’s best, and certainly last night’s win only furthered his point. Speaking after his 19th career victory last night, Melendez continued on this theme (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote) saying:

“I know I’m not the UFC champion, but I’ve been around this sport a lot longer than Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard,” Melendez said. “If you look at the past and what I’ve accomplished, I’ve accomplished more.”…”Not to take anything away from those guys. They’re great fighters. I’m just trying represent my organization and my team.”

Melendez has been fighting since 2002 while Edgar and Maynard transitioned into 2005 and 2006 respectively, and “El Nino” was throwing down in Pride when most MMA fans hadn’t even heard of the current UFC stars. So, does this mean Melendez can beat either guy? Guess someone will just have to get them together and find out….

Gilbert Melendez Makes His Case as World’s No. 1 Lightweight

Filed under: StrikeforceFor years, No. 1 has been a guess, an argument, a debate, and nothing more. But in this brave, new world, we move closer than ever to getting our answer. It will never be final, of course. Even when you have a dominant champion,…

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For years, No. 1 has been a guess, an argument, a debate, and nothing more. But in this brave, new world, we move closer than ever to getting our answer. It will never be final, of course. Even when you have a dominant champion, there is always someone else on the way up, someone who plants doubt in your mind. But we’re at least finally heading in the right direction. With the recent Zuffa-Strikeforce deal, we have 95 percent of the world’s best fighters under the same umbrella, and at some point in the near future, they’ll actually get in the cage together and fight.

Right now, it’s something like a civil war, two sides who need to be unified for the good of everyone involved, for both the people fighting and those waiting for resolution. Until then we’ll keep guessing as soldiers, err… fighters like Gilbert Melendez fire off their best ammunition, both physical and verbal.

The first man to defend a title in our new era, the Strikeforce lightweight champion wasted little time in voicing what was already on everyone’s minds.

“I’ll tell you what, I think it’s time we unify some titles,” Melendez said. “Who wants to see me fight for that UFC title? Let’s unify them in my hexagon. I’m the No. 1 lightweight in the world, baby. I’m coming for the spot.”

Gilbert Melendez Open to Dominating Strikeforce Before Moving Onto UFC

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SAN DIEGO — Watch below as Gilbert Melendez talks about his dominant first-round title defense over Tatsuya Kawajiri on Saturday night, whether he felt pressure going into the fight, what it’s like fighting for the first time after the birth of his daughter and what he thinks Strikeforce will do with him next.

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SAN DIEGO — Watch below as Gilbert Melendez talks about his dominant first-round title defense over Tatsuya Kawajiri on Saturday night, whether he felt pressure going into the fight, what it’s like fighting for the first time after the birth of his daughter and what he thinks Strikeforce will do with him next.

Gilbert Melendez Open to Dominating Strikeforce Before Moving Onto UFC

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SAN DIEGO — Watch below as Gilbert Melendez talks about his dominant first-round title defense over Tatsuya Kawajiri on Saturday night, whether he felt pressure going into the fight, what it’s like fighting for the first time after the birth of his daughter and what he thinks Strikeforce will do with him next.

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SAN DIEGO — Watch below as Gilbert Melendez talks about his dominant first-round title defense over Tatsuya Kawajiri on Saturday night, whether he felt pressure going into the fight, what it’s like fighting for the first time after the birth of his daughter and what he thinks Strikeforce will do with him next.