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Gilbert Melendez Reportedly In Talks For Possible Retirement Fight

Gilbert Melendez’s decorated MMA career could be coming to an end. News broke today that Melendez is reportedly in talks to end his lengthy layoff to face Arnold Allen at December’s UFC 232 according to an anonymous source who confirmed the talks to MMAjunkie.com. The fight was first reported by FloCombat. Melendez recently confirmed that he […]

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Gilbert Melendez’s decorated MMA career could be coming to an end.

News broke today that Melendez is reportedly in talks to end his lengthy layoff to face Arnold Allen at December’s UFC 232 according to an anonymous source who confirmed the talks to MMAjunkie.com. The fight was first reported by FloCombat.

Melendez recently confirmed that he was ending a yearlong hiatus since a brutal beating at the hands of feared knockout artist Jeremy Stephens. The bout was contested at featherweight, Melendez’ first bout at 145 pounds since 2003.

The former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC title challenger was once one of the top 155-pound fighters in the world. He won the Strikeforce lightweight title twice and defended it five times in total to storm into the UFC in 2013. He met then-champ Benson Henderson for the title and lost a close split decision. ‘El Nino’ then won a brutal, bloody war with Diego Sanchez at UFC 166 to earn a second UFC title shot at UFC 181 in December 2014.

Melendez was submitted by former champ Anthony Pettis and went on to lose three straight fights to Stephens, Edson Barboza, and Eddie Alvarez to put his overall UFC record at a disappointing 1-5.

He was also suspended for a positive drug test and has been dealing with a significant leg injury where bruises calcified and resulted in nerve damage. But in an interview with MMAjunkie this week, he said he’s doing better:

“As a fighter, recovery takes a bit longer, and mileage is a little bit more, so with all that added up, I took some time,” Melendez said on Wednesday. “But I’m feeling great. My leg is better. I’m checking kicks right now, and I feel good about it.”

With the losses mounting to the best fighters in the world, ‘El Nino’ admitted he needs to win his next fight and win big.

If he did, he claimed his career may continue, but a loss or poor performance would result in him re-examining his path:

“I think it’s important for me to succeed in my next fight,” Melendez said. “It will be hard to go on if I don’t succeed. I really have to deliver. Even if I did come out with a victory, and I’m not happy with my performance, I’d probably have to consider everything.

“I need to succeed in this fight. If I do, that journey may continue. But if I don’t succeed, I can’t say forever-ever, but it’s definitely going to be time to step back for a long time.”

If he does battle Allen, he’ll have no easy task. The 24-year-old featherweight was last seen submitting Mads Burnell at May’s UFC Liverpool. He boasts four wins in a row in the UFC and an overall MMA record of 13-1.

Will Melendez continue his storied career past UFC 232?

The post Gilbert Melendez Reportedly In Talks For Possible Retirement Fight appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Quote of the Day: Nate Diaz Doesn’t Think Nick Will Ever Fight Again

(Shirtless Saturdays just aren’t going to be the same around the gym without Nick.)

MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani caught up with UFC on Fox 3 headliner Nate Diaz today at the press conference today in New York for the New Jersey event and the lightweight contender revealed that he thinks his brother Nick’s days in the Octagon are over.

“Triathlon season is starting so he’s just training, getting in shape for that. [He’s] concentrating on being in shape, being healthy, helping me out and coaching me for my fights. Right now, I don’t think [we’ll ever see him back]. He’s just big on, like I said, just being healthy and staying in shape and not worrying about [fighting] and thinking about it. I think he’s retired. He hasn’t been into this whole fighting thing for some time, you know? Since everything that goes on with the funny wins and losses — for not just him — for me and for people on our team. I think he’s just relaxed right now and he’s pretty set on his retirement. I kind of agree with him, you know? It’s hard to say, especially when it’s somebody like my brother,” Nate explained.

Check out the video and the rest of what Nate had to say about the situation after the jump.

(Shirtless Saturdays just aren’t going to be the same around the gym without Nick.)

“I’m not going to tell him to go fight somebody. I think he’s doing the right thing, you know? Whatever. He made enough money to just chill back, sit back and relax, you know? People don’t understand, Nick never had nothing. He came from not much, so… He complained a lot about not making much money because there’s so many people making more money than him that he works 10 times harder than, so. But they definitely paid him enough money to not have to do anything. He don’t need to fight,” he told Helwani.

So there you have it, unless Nick simply isn’t one for sharing his feelings with his friends and family, which we highly doubt, we may have seen the last of the ornery Stockton native in the cage. At least there’s still a chance we might see him join the thoughtful and caring business of boxing, where I’m sure he’ll have no problems with promoters or reporters.

Check out the video after the jump.

(Video courtesy of MMAFighting)

Jake Shields Doesn’t Think Nick Diaz is Done Fighting [VIDEO]

(“Tell me you aren’t going to miss this shit, bro.”)

Our friends at Kimura.se caught up with Jake Shields ahead of his UFC 144 fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama Saturday in Japan and they asked the Team Cesar Gracie fighter whether or not he thinks his teammate Nick Diaz will follow through on his plan to retire.

(“Tell me you aren’t going to miss this shit, bro.”)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Kimura.se)

According to the former Strikeforce middleweight champ, he doesn’t believe Diaz’s fighting days are behind him and he feels that the Stockton native let his emotions get the best of him after his razor-close decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143. Shields says that some time away from the sport will likely rejuvenate the former Strikeforce welterweight champ and stoke the fire in Diaz to compete again.

“He’s calmed down; I think he’s gonna fight again. I think it’s just, you know, he’s been a little burned out. They’ve been fighting him like crazy, keeping him busy. I think he just needs a little break,” Shields explained. “Unfortunately, he’ll probably be suspended for a little while, but the time off will make him love the sport again and make him wanna get back in there.”

During a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing today Diaz’s license was suspended and his fight purse and bonuses ordered held until a future disciplinary hearing is held at a yet-to-be-determined date. We’ll have more info as it becomes available.

Diaz’s Camp Fires Back at Penn For Yesterday’s Random Twitter Salvo

(“See, where I come from bitching like that will get you backhanded.”)

Well, it didn’t take long for Team Cesar Gracie to return fire on BJ Penn after “The Prodigy” launched a random Twitter attack on Nick Diaz yesterday.

Here’s what they had to say about Penn’s latest bitchfest via a posting made today on Cesar’s official blog, GracieFighter.com.

Say It Ain’t So BJ…

JANUARY 6, 2012

BJ Penn has apparently not come to terms with the beating he received at the hands of Nick Diaz. Below is his latest posting on his Twitter account:

@nickdiaz209 Look how much bigger you are in this pic..I thought you were gonna scrap from the beginning homie? What was that coward fence holding strategy to tire out the smaller man? Street fighter my ass! I made you fight like glass jaw @jonfitchdotnet poser!
I’ll be ready for that weak bs next time we fight!

At some point it is up to those around you to protect you from yourself. To take you aside and let you know you are wrong and help save you from your folly. Unfortunately for Penn he is surrounded by “Yes Men” that are unwilling to do that. The outcome will be predictable, resulting in a fighter that will never push himself to the fullest and will always have excuses for his losses.