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#681
05-13-2011, 10:11 AM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Montreal, Qc
Posts: 23,831
Gilbert Melendez Looking Outside Strikeforce For Next Challenge
Gilbert Melendez Looking Outside Strikeforce For Next Challenge | MMAWeekly.com
It’s hard to argue Gilbert Melendez’s status among the elite lightweights in the world.
After his first-round drubbing of fellow Top 10 fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri in Strikeforce last month, Melendez is perched as the No. 1 lightweight in the MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings, right in front of UFC champion Frankie Edgar and top contender Gray Maynard.
Edgar and Maynard were slated to battle it out for a third time at the end of this month at UFC 130 with the UFC lightweight belt on the line, but injuries to both fighters put the fight on the shelf until later this year. But with a dwindling list of contenders to face in Strikeforce, Melendez would love to challenge the winner of Edgar vs. Maynard 3.
With both the UFC and Strikeforce under the Zuffa umbrella now, Melendez would be happy to receive that opportunity.
“I agree and if it is business as usual people are going to want to see that fight, and maybe it can happen sooner than later,” Melendez told MMAWeekly Radio about facing Edgar or Maynard.
Melendez’s head coach, Cesar Gracie, agrees that for his fighter to face the very best in his division, he’s likely going to have to look outside of Strikeforce to find it.
“I really do not believe that,” Gracie answered when asked if there are contenders left in Strikeforce for Melendez. “And the reason I can say that is I’m looking at the talent pool they have in there, and I don’t see who they’re going to bring up.
“Guys that are winning are guys like (Shinya) Aoki and we’ve seen that fight. It was five rounds of Gilbert completely dominating the guy and beating him, and I don’t think other guys can even get past Aoki. You’ve seen Gilbert dominate Josh Thomson, and Thomson just recently lost to (Tatsuya) Kawajiri, and then Kawajiri comes over and just gets crushed, no pun intended, by Gilbert Melendez. So for exciting match-ups, I think we’re going to have to go outside of Strikeforce.”
Melendez is stuck in a similar situation as his friend and teammate Nick Diaz, who has essentially cleaned out any top welterweight contender the promotion has right now.
While Melendez isn’t likely to follow Diaz into the boxing world to explore new challenges, the leader of the Skrap Pack is looking to face the best in the world and those fighters currently aren’t with Strikeforce.
“I’m hoping that Dana (White) and these guys understand that also, and make the dream match-ups that the fans really and truly want. We need to see these guys fight Gilbert Melendez over there,” Gracie said.
“Gil wants to test himself. He wants that belt; he wants the UFC belt also to add to his collection of belts, and yeah I hope they put those fights together.”
Melendez is currently waiting to hear from Strikeforce about who he could face next, but rumors are circulating that a potential match-up between K.J. Noons and Jorge Masvidal could determine the next contender to his belt.
Gilbert Melendez Looking Outside Strikeforce For Next Challenge | MMAWeekly.com
It’s hard to argue Gilbert Melendez’s status among the elite lightweights in the world.
After his first-round drubbing of fellow Top 10 fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri in Strikeforce last month, Melendez is perched as the No. 1 lightweight in the MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings, right in front of UFC champion Frankie Edgar and top contender Gray Maynard.
Edgar and Maynard were slated to battle it out for a third time at the end of this month at UFC 130 with the UFC lightweight belt on the line, but injuries to both fighters put the fight on the shelf until later this year. But with a dwindling list of contenders to face in Strikeforce, Melendez would love to challenge the winner of Edgar vs. Maynard 3.
With both the UFC and Strikeforce under the Zuffa umbrella now, Melendez would be happy to receive that opportunity.
“I agree and if it is business as usual people are going to want to see that fight, and maybe it can happen sooner than later,” Melendez told MMAWeekly Radio about facing Edgar or Maynard.
Melendez’s head coach, Cesar Gracie, agrees that for his fighter to face the very best in his division, he’s likely going to have to look outside of Strikeforce to find it.
“I really do not believe that,” Gracie answered when asked if there are contenders left in Strikeforce for Melendez. “And the reason I can say that is I’m looking at the talent pool they have in there, and I don’t see who they’re going to bring up.
“Guys that are winning are guys like (Shinya) Aoki and we’ve seen that fight. It was five rounds of Gilbert completely dominating the guy and beating him, and I don’t think other guys can even get past Aoki. You’ve seen Gilbert dominate Josh Thomson, and Thomson just recently lost to (Tatsuya) Kawajiri, and then Kawajiri comes over and just gets crushed, no pun intended, by Gilbert Melendez. So for exciting match-ups, I think we’re going to have to go outside of Strikeforce.”
Melendez is stuck in a similar situation as his friend and teammate Nick Diaz, who has essentially cleaned out any top welterweight contender the promotion has right now.
While Melendez isn’t likely to follow Diaz into the boxing world to explore new challenges, the leader of the Skrap Pack is looking to face the best in the world and those fighters currently aren’t with Strikeforce.
“I’m hoping that Dana (White) and these guys understand that also, and make the dream match-ups that the fans really and truly want. We need to see these guys fight Gilbert Melendez over there,” Gracie said.
“Gil wants to test himself. He wants that belt; he wants the UFC belt also to add to his collection of belts, and yeah I hope they put those fights together.”
Melendez is currently waiting to hear from Strikeforce about who he could face next, but rumors are circulating that a potential match-up between K.J. Noons and Jorge Masvidal could determine the next contender to his belt.
#683
05-16-2011, 06:01 PM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Montreal, Qc
Posts: 23,831
whats this now??? Phil Davis, Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader, Eddie Wineland, Jake Ellenberger, Urijah Faber & Matt Mitrione driving some exotics in Las Vegas!!! 
http://mstracylee.com/2011/05/7-ufc-...-prove-it.html
http://mstracylee.com/2011/05/7-ufc-...-prove-it.html
Last edited by McRae; 05-16-2011 at 06:13 PM.
#684
05-17-2011, 12:04 PM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Montreal, Qc
Posts: 23,831
#685
05-17-2011, 04:32 PM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Montreal, Qc
Posts: 23,831
#686
05-18-2011, 07:37 PM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Montreal, Qc
Posts: 23,831
YouTube - Joey Beltran UFC 131 Video Blog Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL80j...&feature=feedu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL80j...&feature=feedu
Last edited by McRae; 05-18-2011 at 07:41 PM.
#689
05-19-2011, 08:00 AM
Pretty cool Dos Santos Compilation:
YouTube - ‪Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos: No Fear‬‏
YouTube - ‪Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos: No Fear‬‏
#690
05-19-2011, 08:52 AM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Montreal, Qc
Posts: 23,831
"Meathead" Explains Tito Scuffle - UFC NEWS, MMA NEWS | BJPENN.COM
"Meathead" Explains Tito Scuffle
If you missed it, last week at the UFC’s fighter summit, “Big Country” Roy Nelson caught an altercation between Tito Ortiz and Matt Mitrione on film and put it up on youtube.
On the tape, Mitrione and Ortiz were tough guy posturing in what was almost a real MMA street fight. However cooler heads prevailed and the two walked off without a scuffle.
A regular on mmafighting.com’s “The MMA Hour” Matt Mitrione took his minute on the air to explain what happened in the now infamous tape that circulated the internet last week.
"I rip on Tito freely all the time, and I have no issues or qualms with ripping on him. I do it publicly, I do it privately, I do it wherever. But I'd never met him before in person, so I kind of felt like I should at least honestly go and introduce myself to him, so that way he can never be like, 'I've never met that coward and blah, blah, blah.' I wanted to go up to him and be like, 'Hey, I'm Matt. I'm the dude who throws heat on you.' What happened was, he was talking to Roy Nelson when I approached him. He was talking to Roy, he was sitting down, I walked up and extended my hand, said, 'Hey, I'm Matt.' As he stood up he said, 'Yeah, I know who you are,' and he...pushed me. All one movement. I was wearing my flip-flops like I always do because I'm a summer baby. I kicked my flip-flops off, licked my fingers like I did on The Ultimate Fighter, because I guess that's a habit of mine, and I was like alright, let's scrap. I started to square up a little bit, and then he kept saying, like anybody who doesn't really want to fight, they're like 'hit me, hit me then, hit me.' Well, that's stupid. That's why, in the video, I was like, 'Well, you're the one being aggressive. If you want to be aggressive, then let's scrap. ...I came and introduced myself. I didn't come up here to fight you' ... Just to show that I am a professional, I sought out Mr. [Lorenzo] Fertitta and Dana after all that stuff. I went to go work out and Dana was there and I approached him and pulled him to the side and I was like, 'I want you to know I'm sorry. I did not intend to disrespect your meetings. I didn't intend for that to happen. I just walked up and introduced myself to him and that's when all that stuff occurred, and I'm a grown-ass man and if Tito wanted to throw hands, then I'm sure as hell going to do that.'" "At the end of it I was like, 'Just to let you know, if Tito really wants to run his mouth about this...I will cut down to as close as to 205 as possible, or hopefully you'd let me do 225 as a catchweight, and I will kick his a--.'"
Anyone want to see a catchweight bout between Ortiz and Mitrione?
"Meathead" Explains Tito Scuffle
If you missed it, last week at the UFC’s fighter summit, “Big Country” Roy Nelson caught an altercation between Tito Ortiz and Matt Mitrione on film and put it up on youtube.
On the tape, Mitrione and Ortiz were tough guy posturing in what was almost a real MMA street fight. However cooler heads prevailed and the two walked off without a scuffle.
A regular on mmafighting.com’s “The MMA Hour” Matt Mitrione took his minute on the air to explain what happened in the now infamous tape that circulated the internet last week.
"I rip on Tito freely all the time, and I have no issues or qualms with ripping on him. I do it publicly, I do it privately, I do it wherever. But I'd never met him before in person, so I kind of felt like I should at least honestly go and introduce myself to him, so that way he can never be like, 'I've never met that coward and blah, blah, blah.' I wanted to go up to him and be like, 'Hey, I'm Matt. I'm the dude who throws heat on you.' What happened was, he was talking to Roy Nelson when I approached him. He was talking to Roy, he was sitting down, I walked up and extended my hand, said, 'Hey, I'm Matt.' As he stood up he said, 'Yeah, I know who you are,' and he...pushed me. All one movement. I was wearing my flip-flops like I always do because I'm a summer baby. I kicked my flip-flops off, licked my fingers like I did on The Ultimate Fighter, because I guess that's a habit of mine, and I was like alright, let's scrap. I started to square up a little bit, and then he kept saying, like anybody who doesn't really want to fight, they're like 'hit me, hit me then, hit me.' Well, that's stupid. That's why, in the video, I was like, 'Well, you're the one being aggressive. If you want to be aggressive, then let's scrap. ...I came and introduced myself. I didn't come up here to fight you' ... Just to show that I am a professional, I sought out Mr. [Lorenzo] Fertitta and Dana after all that stuff. I went to go work out and Dana was there and I approached him and pulled him to the side and I was like, 'I want you to know I'm sorry. I did not intend to disrespect your meetings. I didn't intend for that to happen. I just walked up and introduced myself to him and that's when all that stuff occurred, and I'm a grown-ass man and if Tito wanted to throw hands, then I'm sure as hell going to do that.'" "At the end of it I was like, 'Just to let you know, if Tito really wants to run his mouth about this...I will cut down to as close as to 205 as possible, or hopefully you'd let me do 225 as a catchweight, and I will kick his a--.'"
Anyone want to see a catchweight bout between Ortiz and Mitrione?