“When you prove yourself as a fighter, you don’t have to settle. I guess some people have to jump on opportunities. There are a lot of organizations out there … taking care of their fighters. When people used to ask me why I wasn’t in the UFC, it used to bother me. Now I’m like, I don’t know, maybe someday.”
– StrikeForce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez — who is among the very best 155-pound fighters in world — tells MMAWeekly.com that he is comfortable in his current position. The 25-year-old Caesar Gracie-trained fighter would no doubt be an immediate threat to the current UFC lightweight champion if he were to “someday” sign with the organization.
MMAWeekly.com
October 8th, 2007
21 Comments »
Gilbert would be a great addition to the UFC LW division..which is the deepest with the LHW’s. It would be some great match ups.
FenFlo vs Gilbert
BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson
Nate Diaz vs Huerta
J-lauzon vs Guida
Gray vs Edgar
Let’s see what happens with the Roided Shark CSAC appeal issue later this month..if the belt is up for grabs.
LW Grand Prix? Or just give the belt to BJ?
Is it just me, or does Gilbert look like the astranged son between Kos and Diego? I guess one of them accidently slipped it in during thier blanket-fest/hug-fest ‘fight’ on TUF 1. I knew they were humping each other!
But in all seriousness, Gilbert Melendez is phenominal. I would like him simply for the fact that he trains with the Diaz’s.. Gilbert vs Josh da Punk Thomson would be an AWESOME fight that deserves to be on a better card than Stikeforce.
a GP would be sooooo good but it just won’t happen with Dana. i’m sure all the fighters would love the idea too…oh well
i read somewhere that guida and huerta are fightin on the tuf finale i think
What does he mean settle? Like the UFC would pay him less than the 30K he made at Strikeforce. Last I checked Aurellio made 30K to lose in the UFC, If he had won it would have been 60K twice what Melendez made. To me that sounds like a good idea. But 30K the easy way (strikeforce) my be what he would like at this time.
What a self-esteem protecting statement as to why you dont fight in the biggest MMA venue in the world. There’s only one answer to that: ‘you ain’t that good’
His last fight was with Kato (kato has lost 5 of his last 7 fights)Obiya has lost his last 3 straight. Sarmiento has lost 7 of his last 10 fights. Keep up the good work Gilbert -why dont you go after Ken Shamrock next!
Thats because he will get flattened.
Huerta, Florian, Pen, Sherk would work him! Even nate diaz would take him to a close dicision.
It’s as if Diego was wearing an un-bleached Koscheck wig.
I believe the UFC is doing their best to secure the best fighters in the world and if fighters want to prove that they are the best in the world, they will have to fight the fighters in the UFC.
LMFAO @ ViolentMike that is funny!
[quote post=”3534″]I believe the UFC is doing their best to secure the best fighters in the world and if fighters want to prove that they are the best in the world, they will have to fight the fighters in the UFC. [/quote]
Right on! An Gilbert isn’t one of em! Right on! The UFC is an expressway to the knocked-out-way!
[quote post=”3534″]It’s as if Diego was wearing an un-bleached Koscheck wig[/quote]
The only difference is that he’s holding something Diego and Kos will never hold. A belt of any kind (unless it’s made of leather and sold at Kohls)
[quote post=”3534″]It’s as if Diego was wearing an un-bleached Koscheck wig[/quote]
[quote post=”3534″]The only difference is that he’s holding something Diego and Kos will never hold. A belt of any kind (unless it’s made of leather and sold at Kohls) [/quote]
LOL, yeah, or if they fought in some crap-ass promotion like strikeforce.
Protect your neck melendez. Stay away from the UFC cause you have the most sugar coated ranking in the world. You have beaten one fighter who is actually making a name for himself in Clay Guida. And you didnt finish him. You would get served by Florian, Penn, Stevenson, fisher, Huerta, Diaz brothers ect. I dont wanna see the reality check you get when you start fighting the people in the top ten. Keep fighting people on 5 fight losing streaks.
Sorry i forgot about the Kawajiri fight that you won. Hes a notable fighter but B- at best.
Gilbert would make a huge impact on the lightweight division, after he lost.
I like this kid, and he has potential to be the best, but I dunno, I just dont see him clinching to his natural abilities, and when he fights top notch talent, I could see him folding.
But thats just me.
[quote post=”3534″]LW Grand Prix? Or just give the belt to BJ? [/quote]
lol they might as well give it to him but they’ll go thru the formalities.
[quote post=”3534″]Gilbert would make a huge impact on the lightweight division, after he lost.[/quote]
explain……
[quote comment=”169338″]a GP would be sooooo good but it just won’t happen with Dana. i’m sure all the fighters would love the idea too…oh well[/quote]No, it wouldn’t be good, and the fighters would hate it. The only way you could have a GP is if you scheduled every round about 4 months apart. Even then, people will get injured and you’d have to postpone/forfeit.
People are being really hard on Gil, but I would like to see him in the big leagues as well. Kato obviously had no type of offensive fighting skills whatsoever so Gil was lucky he wasn’t fighting a better fighter because he might have lost after he hurt his hand. I mean, Kato might lose a UD to Jason Dent with the way he fights.
[quote comment=”169358″]His last fight was with Kato (kato has lost 5 of his last 7 fights)Obiya has lost his last 3 straight. Sarmiento has lost 7 of his last 10 fights. Keep up the good work Gilbert -why dont you go after Ken Shamrock next![/quote]
Kato had lost 4 of his last 6 and 5 out of 10. Get the facts straight. Obiya was 6-0-1 before he lost to Gilbert. Only Gilbert and Huerta have put away Sarmiento with strikes. Sarmiento is a very tough fighter with a win over Razor Rob. Despite the blemishes on his record, Sar is tough. Oh and he beat the crap out of Kato with one hand. Watch the fight, you’ll see it.
[quote comment=”169595″]Sorry i forgot about the Kawajiri fight that you won. Hes a notable fighter but B- at best.[/quote]
Yeah Kawajiri was ranked 3 in the world at the time. Kawajiri holds wins over Joachim Hansen, Crazy horse Bennet, Vitor Ribeiro, and Yves Edwards. You’re going to rate kawajiri a B-? Wow! You tell me how many UFC lightweights are currently ranked in the top ten in thw world. One! Joe Stevenson at a whopping #9. Kawajiri is still #4.
[quote comment=”169593″]Protect your neck melendez. Stay away from the UFC cause you have the most sugar coated ranking in the world. You have beaten one fighter who is actually making a name for himself in Clay Guida. And you didnt finish him. You would get served by Florian, Penn, Stevenson, fisher, Huerta, Diaz brothers ect. I dont wanna see the reality check you get when you start fighting the people in the top ten. Keep fighting people on 5 fight losing streaks.[/quote]
How many of the guys you just nemed are in the top ten? One! Stevenson at #9. BJ Penn is the only other guy ranked. Penn is probably up in the top three but we’re not certain he’s going to fight at 155lbs.
[quote comment=”169503″][quote post=”3534″]I believe the UFC is doing their best to secure the best fighters in the world and if fighters want to prove that they are the best in the world, they will have to fight the fighters in the UFC. [/quote]
The UFC doesn’t have the best in the world. Out of the top ten in the world lightweights one of them is currently in the UFC. Prove to me that the UFC has the best.
Right on! An Gilbert isn’t one of em! Right on! The UFC is an expressway to the knocked-out-way![/quote]
Now I’m not bashing the UFC. but the fact is, they don’t have all the best fighters out there. Nick Diaz doesn’t fight for the UFC either by the way.