Tag: gilbert melendez

Gilbert Melendez Negotiating New Deal with Strikeforce

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 […]

Josh Thomson vs Gilbert Melendez

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?

Shinya Aoki Credits Tatsuya Kawajiri for Having Iron Heart

If your weekend didn’t entail having your ass fixed to the couch for much of it, you may have missed Dream 15 where Shinya Aoki dominated Tatsuya Kawajiri en route to a first round, tap out win (by Achilles Lock). Following Aoki’s one sided decision loss to Gilbert Melendez in April, a lot of people […]

aoki

If your weekend didn’t entail having your ass fixed to the couch for much of it, you may have missed Dream 15 where Shinya Aoki dominated Tatsuya Kawajiri en route to a first round, tap out win (by Achilles Lock). Following Aoki’s one sided decision loss to Gilbert Melendez in April, a lot of people were probably expecting the submission wiz to come out aggressively, and sure enough, the Dream champ immediately took the fight to the ground and did his thing. Of course, ‘his thing’, sometimes entails the horrific bending or breaking of human appendages, and in a post-fight interview with Sports Navi, Mr. “Love Em or Hate Em” Aoki had this to say about Saturday’s win (thanks to MMA Bay for the quote):

“When I caught (Kawajiri) and tried to submit him, I heard a loud crackle sound. He did not tap so I thought ‘Ok, this match just became a death-fight’ and I was going to destroy his leg. I knew Kawajiri never taps so I could not win without breaking his bone. I was hoping for an open-fracture. No one could have endured [that submission] like Kawajiri. His heart is iron.”

It’s not every day you read post fight comments that include the words ‘open fracture’ and ‘death fight’, but hell, it makes for good copy (although the comment about the ’open-fracture’ shouldn’t sit well with most).  As far as the “heart is iron” comment, it’s true, Kawajiri did try to hang in there for what was probably several agonizing moments. As far as his next gig, Aoki’s made it clear that he wants to rematch Melendez in the Dream ring; it’s worth a look no?

Jake Shields Close to Being a UFC Fighter; Says Strikeforce’s Problem is that the Company Only Pushes Has-Beens

(Shields was pleasantly surprised to find his locker at the UFC training centre stuffed with the "respect" Strikeforce failed to show him.)
When Jake Shields announced that he would be testing the free agent waters when his Strikeforce contra…


(Shields was pleasantly surprised to find his locker at the UFC training centre stuffed with the "respect" Strikeforce failed to show him.)

When Jake Shields announced that he would be testing the free agent waters when his Strikeforce contract ended this summer, every MMA fan and journalist collectively thought, "He’s going to the UFC." Strikeforce must have been thinking the same thing, considering they let Shields, who is their middleweight champ, go without a fight by releasing him without tendering a final offer before he began the open negotiation period with other promotions.

Even if a company like the UFC made an offer, Strikeforce, by rights could have matched any offer on the table, but by releasing him from his contract, the only thing they did was possibly prevent a bidding war resulting salary increase for Shields.

He told BJPenn.com that the release was totally unexpected.

“It came as kind of a surprise. I hadn’t really been talking to Strikeforce and pretty much everyone knows that I want to go to the UFC. We got our negotiations going with the UFC and they (Strikeforce) dropped me without any warning and it came out of nowhere. It is what it is and I’m moving ahead with the UFC contract and hopefully that will be worked out soon.”

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Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez Needs to Happen

Filed under: Strikeforce, BellatorGilbert Melendez did it again this week.

Melendez, the Strikeforce lightweight champion, pointed out that there’s a great fight to be made between himself and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, a fight that …

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Gilbert Melendez did it again this week.

Melendez, the Strikeforce lightweight champion, pointed out that there’s a great fight to be made between himself and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, a fight that both fighters want and that MMA fans across America would mark on their calendars as a can’t-miss. And he pointed out an uncomfortable truth about MMA: A fight like that doesn’t get made just because the fighters and the fans want it. It only gets made if the promoters and the TV people agree to it.

Scott Coker Would ‘Love’ to Co-Promote Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, Bellator, NewsLast month, Bjorn Rebney essentially called out Scott Coker on a FOX Sports Net Bellator broadcast for not returning his call about putting together a co-promotional bout between Eddie Alvarez…

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Last month, Bjorn Rebney essentially called out Scott Coker on a FOX Sports Net Bellator broadcast for not returning his call about putting together a co-promotional bout between Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez.

But on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Coker said he and Rebney have since had preliminary talks about making the champion vs. champion fight.

“We actually talked, probably about a week ago, and we had a nice conversation. It’s the first time I’ve ever spoken to him. [Rebney] seems like a good guy, and I wish him luck in what he’s doing,” Coker said.

“I said, ‘Look, the situation with Gilbert is he broke his hand in his last fight, so he’s out right now. He’s going to be out, probably until the fall. So this is something we can readdress. We are open to fighting other fighters in other leagues.”