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Gilbert Melendez Was ‘Licking My Chops’ to Get Fight Against Benson Henderson

Gilbert Melendez has long been recognized as one of the best lightweight fighters in mixed martial arts. The problem with that ranking, some would say, is that Melendez has never set foot inside the vaunted UFC Octagon. That’s about to change, as Melendez will fight UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson on April 20 in the main event of the UFC on Fox 7 fight card.

Melendez (21-2) will carry a seven-fight winning streak with him when he enters the cage in San Jose. One thing we are unsure of is if he will also carry the Strikeforce title with him when he faces Henderson. After all, he is pictured on the event poster with the belt and he will enter the fight as the last man to hold that title before the promotion was shuttered.

Melendez addressed that issue on Tuesday: “Champion versus champion is a neat thing for me, but I feel like in this case Benson’s the champ and I’m coming into a new organization. I fought the Dream champ, I fought the Shooto champ, I’ve fought a lot of different champs in different rules and it’s a neat opportunity for me. I’m definitely prepared and I’m looking forward to the opportunity. A lot of time has been spent trying to prove I’m number one and this is my opportunity and I plan on taking advantage of it.”

While the idea of champion versus champion may be “neat,” there’s another aspect to this fight that is a little more personal, and that’s the fact that Melendez was cage side when Henderson won his last fight, a unanimous decision victory over Melendez’s friend and training partner Nate Diaz.

When asked about what he was thinking in the moments after that fight, Melendez said: “When your buddy’s fighting you can’t help getting a little emotional and passionate. You’re bummed for your friend and if you can back your friend up you will. At that point I was like, give me an opportunity to avenge my friend, give me an opportunity to fight this dude, I can do it. I was just licking my chops to get this opportunity and I did.”

And that opportunity is a huge one for Melendez, as many continue to overlook him as a champion, preferring to see him only as a challenger. “It doesn’t bother me, you got to pick your battles in this sport and that’s not one of them,” Melendez said. “I feel like I am somewhat of a challenger, walking into new territory. It’s a new organization, different sized stage. I’m totally fine with that. Benson Henderson is the champ of the UFC.”

Melendez will do his best to change that fact on April 20. If he does, he’ll take UFC gold back to the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu camp, something teammates Nick and Nate Diaz were unable to do in their last bouts. If you think Melendez is feeling added pressure due to that fact, you’d be wrong.

“I hope to win the title for my team, but I really try to not put too much pressure on myself. I go out there and fight my fight. I think it’s a great accomplishment for my whole team to get title fights. I’d love to bring that title back to the gym and share it with those guys, but no, no added pressure.”

**All quotes obtained first hand

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Daniel Cormier on Frank Mir Fight: ‘I’m Not Going to Fight with Emotion’

If you ever wanted a real life example of someone making the best of the opportunities presented to them, look no further than Daniel Cormier. Two years ago, Cormier was fighting on Strikeforce Challenger Series fight cards. Now on April 20, Cormier will make his UFC debut in the co-main event of the UFC on Fox 7 fight card, facing former UFC champion Frank Mir, all because he took an opportunity and made the most of it.

When the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix began in February 2011, Cormier was not one of the fighters selected to participate. In fact, he wasn’t even one of the alternates named to the event.

An injury to Shane Del Rosario and the promotion’s release of Alistair Overeem opened the door for Cormier. Instead of just peaking around the corner of that door, he kicked it wide open, knocking out Antonio Silva in the semifinals of the tournament and then going on to win the Grand Prix with a victory over former UFC champion Josh Barnett.

One additional fight later, a TKO over Dion Staring, and Cormier stands at 11-0 and is hearing his name mentioned as a possible future UFC champion in either the heavyweight or light heavyweight division. The road toward that goal will begin in San Jose when he meets Mir.

The two fighters have exchanged some trash talk in the time leading up to the fight, with Cormier telling Bleacher Report: “Frank Mir says I can’t finish fights? Okay that’s fine. My intention in this fight is not to finish Frank Mir. I’m going beat up on Frank Mir for 15 minutes and I’m going to make him stay in that cage with me. If Frank Mir gets finished, it will be because he quit.”

Mir’s retort to Cormier, via MMAFighting, was “if he makes a mistake, then I’ll take one of his limbs home.”

Cormier feels the trash talk is all for naught, that it doesn’t really mean anything, “I’m not going to fight with emotion. There’s not going to be anything that Frank could ever say that’s going to make me fight a fight that’s more dangerous. I’ve stated time and time again that I think that there is only a select few individuals that can take the beatings that Frank has taken and still continue to be the way he is. I’m going to go out there and fight my fight”

As for the words of Mir, Cormier said, “I’m hoping it’s promotion, because if that’s the way his mind works that’s very disturbing.”

When talk of pursuing the light heavyweight title came up, Cormier said, “I’ve got such an important fight on my hands in this the next one, I’ve kind of strayed away from that thought process. I’m not really thinking about the 205-pound division right now. I’ve stated time and time again that I want to be the UFC champion and if that means going down to the weight below, then I would do that. But I have the toughest fight of my career in front of me in two weeks and I can’t focus on that right now. I’m confident that I can make the weight, but right now my sole focus is on Frank Mir and once we get past Frank Mir we can talk about that stuff.”

If Cormier does get past Mir, you can guarantee that one of the first questions he’s asked will be what’s next for him, as current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is a good friend and training partner of his. But like Cormier said, he first has to pass the test that Mir will present in San Jose.

**All quotes obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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UFC on Fox 7 Promo: Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez

The UFC has released an official promotional video for UFC on Fox 7, set for April 20 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The headlining bout pits UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson against the last reigning Strikeforce champ at 155 poun…

The UFC has released an official promotional video for UFC on Fox 7, set for April 20 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The headlining bout pits UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson against the last reigning Strikeforce champ at 155 pounds, Gilbert Melendez.

“Bendo,” also a former WEC title holder, is a perfect 6-0 inside the Octagon, though he has yet to put anyone away under the UFC banner.

Henderson has successfully defended his belt twice, most recently defeating Melendez’s Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teammate Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 5 in December.

Meanwhile, “El Nino” has won seven in a row and looked borderline untouchable inside the Strikeforce cage, with the exception of his most recent win over Josh Thomson in May, where he was awarded a controversial split-decision win.

Also being advertised in the video is the evening’s co-main event, where former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir squares off against Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier.

Mir has been on the shelf for just under a year, coming up short in a title bid against Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 in May.

Prior to that loss, Mir had defeated three in a row, including the 2011 “Submission of the Year” when he broke the arm of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a fellow decorated grappler, at UFC 140 in December 2011.

On the other hand, Cormier is a perfect 11-0 as a professional mixed martial artist, most recently scoring an easy TKO win over Dion Staring at the last Strikeforce event in January.

Mir has struggled with strong wrestlers in the past, such as Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, and Cormier, a former Olympic-level wrestler, certainly fits that mold.

Tune into Fox on April 20 to check out these high-profile matchups inside the Octagon.

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Power Ranking the Best MMA Fights That Will Take Place in April

In the month of April, the UFC is slamming fans with a weekly helping of fight cards that has the potential to overwhelm even some of the most die-hard MMA fans.Over the course of four weeks, Zuffa is offering two title fights, an official title elimin…

In the month of April, the UFC is slamming fans with a weekly helping of fight cards that has the potential to overwhelm even some of the most die-hard MMA fans.

Over the course of four weeks, Zuffa is offering two title fights, an official title eliminator, a potential title eliminator and several other contests that have major impact on the championship picture across multiple weight classes.

As a way to ensure that important bouts don’t slip through the cracks, here is a look at at the 10 biggest fights taking place in April, power ranked by importance.

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Daniel Cormier Promises “If Frank Mir Gets Finished, It Will Be Because He Quit”

Throughout his MMA career, Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champion Daniel Cormier has avoided trash talk for the most part. The former Olympian is considered to be one of the friendliest and most well-spoken competitors outside the cage, and is gen…

Throughout his MMA career, Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champion Daniel Cormier has avoided trash talk for the most part.

The former Olympian is considered to be one of the friendliest and most well-spoken competitors outside the cage, and is generally regarded as a fighter who lets his actions speak louder than words when it comes to any pre-fight banter with an opponent.

Recently, however, Cormier had a hard time ignoring some comments made by Frank Mir, his next opponent at UFC on Fox 7.

In a recent interview, Mir said that he was surprised at Cormier not being able to put away an opponent outside of a referee just putting a stop to the fight and stated, “he wasn’t able to put the guy away through a lack of finishing abilities, through a lack of finishing moves.”

He added more insult to injury when speaking about Cormier‘s performance against Josh Barnett, which ended in a unanimous decision, saying that the eventual Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix winner “doesn’t really have much finishing ability.”

Needless to say, despite his friendly demeanor, Cormier took exception to the comments, but also knows that part of fighting Mir is learning to listen to him talk about his opponents even after he’s been beaten by them.

“Frank’s being Frank,” Cormier told Bleacher Report. “There are select few people in this world that can be in a situation that’s supposed to humble you and it just doesn’t happen. I think that’s happened time and time again with Frank. He’s talked about Brock (Lesnar) and he got beat up by Brock, and he still talks bad about Brock. Case one, Frank should have been humbled by the beating Brock put on him, but it didn’t work.”

“Case two, talked about Shane Carwin and Shane Carwin finished him, still didn’t humble him. Talked about Junior Dos Santos after Junior Dos Santos beat him up. So there are a select few people in this world that when you’re in a situation that’s supposed to humble you, it doesn’t necessarily work out that way. Frank Mir’s one of those guys.”

As far as breaking down Mir’s assessment of his skills, on paper it doesn’t really hold water considering Cormier has won eight of his 11 pro fights by TKO or submission with only three fights making it to the judges’ scorecards.

Mir will get the chance firsthand on April 20 to see how Cormier can fight in the cage, but he’s got a warning to issue for the former UFC heavyweight champion.

“To the point of me not being a guy that can finish fights, I’m going to tell you right now and this is 100 percent true—Frank Mir says I can’t finish fights? Okay that’s fine,” Cromier said. “My intention in this fight is not to finish Frank Mir. I’m going beat up on Frank Mir for 15 minutes and I’m going to make him stay in that cage with me.”

“If Frank Mir gets finished, it will be because he quit.”

Cormier wants to leave no doubt in Mir’s mind that if this fight ends it’s because the former UFC champion couldn’t take anymore, taps out and asks for it to be over.

“We’ve all seen some of his fights where we’re like ‘what exactly happened there?’. Know that in this one, if he gets finished it will be because he quits,” Cormier stated. “I’m going to make him check out of that fight, I’m not going to do it for him. I’m not going to do it for him. When he wants out of the fight, he’ll get out of the fight.”

“So watch the fight on April 20. If Frank Mir gets finished it’s because he checked out.”

Now for as fired up as Cormier seems to be about Mir’s comments as encapsulated by his response, he’s not going to get goaded into a fight that doesn’t make sense for him. Cormier is smart enough to know his strong suit and what Mir does well in the cage, and he’s not going to become some risk-taking fighter just to prove a point.

“I’m not going to go in there and put myself at risk because Frank Mir is talking trash about me or because Frank Mir doesn’t really respect me,” said Cormier. “At the end of all if it, it’s easy to see what Frank said and the only thing I take away from it is that he honestly just doesn’t think I’m very good and doesn’t respect my skills or many of the things I’ve accomplished in my life. That’s the biggest mistake anyone could make in a competitive situation.”

Cormier hopes to make Mir pay for his disrespect when they meet as the co-main event at UFC on Fox 7 on April 20 in San Jose.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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[VIDEO] Benson Henderson Competes at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pan-Am Championships

(Video by Budo Videos)

Last week, UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson was just one month away from a nationally televised title defense against Gilbert Melendez, but he still managed to get in a couple Jiu Jitsu matches in one of the world’s most prestigious grappling tournaments. Henderson competed in the brown belt ability division of the BJJ Pan-Am Championships last week and, though he was eventually eliminated and did not place, he showed that he could hang with guys who spend all of their time training in BJJ’s weird set of gi rules, despite doing it just as a hobby.

In the above match, Henderson takes on Brazilian Pedro Alcantara in the middleweight division. The action comes in spurts but the match is very closely contested with Alcantara threatening with omo-plata shoulder locks and sweeps off of his back, and Henderson defending, working for take downs and passing guard.

The two start the match feinting with shot attempts before Alcantara pulls full guard. It doesn’t take him long to pull in Henderson’s right shoulder and work for triangle chokes, which the fighter shrugs off, and then shoulder locks. Initially, Alcantara is able to use the lock to sweep Henderson, earning points.

Henderson hangs tough and refuses to let Alcantara pass his guard. Eventually, Henderson is able to stand up and score a take down. On the ground, he proves better at passing than Alcantara was and pressures and angles until he secures the side mount and earns more points.

Recovering his guard, Alcantara threatens more with the shoulder lock, but this time Henderson will not be moved, and effectively stops both the submission and sweep attempts. The match ends and Henderson has won on points.

(Video by Budo Videos)

Some professional fighters, like Henderson, routinely compete in grappling competitions in between training camps for fun, to stay sharp, what have you. But it is a bit nuts for Henderson to compete in a high level international competition during his training camp, just weeks before defending his world title. That’s straight Jeff Monson territory right there.

Can’t imagine that the UFC would have taken kindly to their champion and Fox television headliner twisting an ankle and pulling out of his title fight so soon to the event. Maybe Henderson has a “love of the game” type clause in his contract. Back in the 80′s, Michael Jordan made the Chicago Bulls put so-called clause in his contract so that he could play pick up games, as he was said to do in inner city Chicago during his early pro years, or participate in summer leagues.

We love the passion for competition that guys like Jordan and Henderson show. We’re also glad Benson apparently came out unscathed and that we still get to see him fight Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez on April 20th.

– Elias Cepeda