Gilbert Melendez's Blogs
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Tuesday MMA: A TV Viewer’s Guide
By: Jeff Sherwood
Tuesday
3:00 a.m. ET Sportsnet Pacific: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
2:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Reloaded
Relive the action from UFC 144 Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.
5:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Reloaded
UFC Rio: Jose Aldo defends his Featherweight title against undefeated Chad Mendes.
8:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Unleashed
Lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson at UFC 144; featherweight face-off between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway at UFC 143; UFC 142's battle between Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson.
9:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: Road to the Octagon
Behind the scenes and inside training camps of UFC fighters as they get ready for UFC on FOX 7: Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez.
10:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Tonight
Preview of all the action ahead in FOX UFC Saturday Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
10:30 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
EPISODE: 126
11:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Fight Night
UFC 124: Relive all the action from UFC: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Phil Davis in Seattle.
11:00 p.m. ET Sportsnet ONE: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
12:00 a.m. ET Sportsnet Ontario: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
12:00 a.m. ET Sportsnet East: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news. Read more -
UFC on Fox 7: Road to the Octagon
By: Mike Fridley
Take an exclusive look into the lives of the stars of UFC on Fox 7 as they prepare for their highly anticipated battles.
Follow the jump for reader comments. Read more -
Audio: UFC on Fox 7 Media Conference Call
By: Sherdog.com Staff
The stars of UFC on Fox 7 -- Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Frank Mir and Daniel Cormier -- spoke with the media Tuesday on a conference call. Also fielding questions was UFC President Dana White. Read more -
Top 5 Stories of the Week
By: Brian Knapp
Benson Henderson will put his title on the line in April. | Photo: Sherdog.com
A lightweight title tilt between former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez and reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship kingpin Benson Henderson will headline UFC on Fox 7 on April 20 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
Henderson has not lost since joining the UFC in 2011 as part of the World Extreme Cagefighting merger. The 29-year-old MMA Lab representative captured the lightweight title from Frankie Edgar at UFC 144 in February, successfully defended it in his rematch with “The Answer” six months later and cemented his place as MMA’s 155-pound alpha male with a unanimous verdict over Nate Diaz in December.
Melendez is regarded by many as one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound talents, despite never having competed in the UFC. The 30-year-old Californian has avenged the only two defeats of his career and will enter his Octagon debut on the strength of a seven-fight winning streak. Melendez last fought at Strikeforce “Barnett vs. Cormier” in May, when he earned a split decision over rival Josh Thomson and retained his lightweight crown.
The stories of interest on Sherdog.com this week:
Champion vs. Champion
Dynamite Debut
Bluff Called
Killer Crossovers
‘Showtime’ Bids Adieu
Follow the jump for reader comments. Read more -
Crunching Numbers: Strikeforce’s Final Statistics
By: Jordan Breen
Many blogs are content to pump out reams of content about Ronda Rousey’s recent “say whatever-the-hell to get Twitter followers and crossover attention” campaigns on both Georges St. Pierre and the Sandy Hook tragedy. For as much as we love to trawl through small-town American newspapers for bizarre stories tangentially related to MMA, we at Sherdog.com also love to give you some real mind candy.
Saturday night came and went, and now Strikeforce has been put to pasture in perfunctory fashion. However, with the final Strikeforce card now in the books, the promotion's figurative record book has been cemented. That means we get to peruse some interesting number-crunching for historical and trivial purposes.
Both FightMetric and MMA Decisions have lovely statistical arrays for you to ogle and to contemplate whether they mean a damn thing. Here’s a selection of some of my favorite numeric morsels from both lovely lists:
-- Josh Thomson has the most Strikeforce fights, period? Truly shocking, if only because his tally of 13 would be considerably higher if he didn’t get injured before a half dozen Strikeforce fights. Also, James Terry and Billy freakin’ Evangelista are tied for third with 10? OK then.
-- Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson both spent over three hours fighting in Strikeforce. They spent 75 minutes fighting each other, specifically.
-- Cung Le had seven knockouts and 10 knockdowns. I think all of those came against Sam Morgan.
And, on that pure WTF tip, FightMetric wrote it better than I could:
“And finally, from the bizarre coincidence file:
9.02 - Significant strikes landed per minute (SLpM) by Nick Diaz, tops among fighters with at least five Strikeforce fights, and also 209 backwards. Diaz’s current SLpM in UFC fights is 4.20. Seriously, it is.” Read more -
R.J. Clifford Joins Press Row
By: Jordan Breen
Every Wednesday, Administrative Editor Jordan Breen welcomes a member of the mixed martial arts media into “Press Row” on the Sherdog.com blog. This week, Breen welcomes Sherdog contributor, SiriusXM radio host and Strikeforce veteran R.J. Clifford to “Press Row.”
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Podcast: Gilbert Melendez, Demetrious Johnson
By: Sherdog.com Staff
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez and newly crowned UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson stopped by Monday’s episode of “Beatdown” on the Sherdog Radio Network.
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Melendez discussed the recent injury which brought about the cancellation of Strikeforce’s Sept. 29 event, while “Mighty Mouse” talked about his win over Joseph Benavidez at Saturday’s UFC 152.
Check out the show here. -
Poll: Strikeforce Champions vs. UFC?
Follow the jump for reader comments. Read more -
Sherdog Vault Photo of the Day
By: Sherdog.com Staff
Six years ago today, Gilbert Melendez topped Clay Guida in a hairy five-rounder to win the Strikeforce lightweight title. (Photo by Jeff Sherwood, 2006.06.09)
Follow the jump for reader comments. Read more -
Podcast: Melendez, Cerrone, Aguilar, Cook
By: Jared Koll
Greg Savage and TJ De Santis returned to The Sherdog Radio Network Monday for another edition of "The Savage Dog Show."
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Fresh off of his Strikeforce title defense over Josh Thomson "El Nino" Gilbert Melendez talks about where he stands in the world of lightweights in mixed martial arts. The Cesar Gracie product also shares his thoughts on if he deserved the split decision victory.
Donald Cerrone was victorious over Jeremy Stephens a week ago in Fairfax, Virginia. "Cowboy" joins Greg Savage to talk about his performance, moving forward in the UFC's lightweight division, and his drive for becoming a professional wakeboarder.
Bob Cook also jumped on the line to talk about his charges Josh Thomson and Cain Velasquez. Cook re-hashed the gameplan from Thomson and looks forward to Velaquez's UFC 146 fight against Antonio Silva.
Jack Encarnaco, TJ De Santis and Jared Koll were back Monday for another edition of 'Beatdown' on The Sherdog Radio Network.
Joining the discussion was Bellator women's flyweight Jessica Aguilar, fresh off her unanimous decision victory over Megumi Fujii at Bellator 69.
Also, the crew kept tabs on the proceedings of the Nevada Athletic Commission, which was hearing cases from both Chael Sonnen and Nick Diaz regarding special substance exemptions.
Check out "The Savage Dog Show" here.
Check out "Beatdown" here.
