After repairing his reputation, Gilbert Melendez is on a mission.
Melendez stormed out to a 13-0 start to his career then suffered upset losses in two-of-three fights to Mitsuhiro Ishida and Josh Thomson. He beat Thomson last month. That mini-saga is done, now Melendez wants to look ahead
to the rest of the 155-pounders around the world. First and foremost
Shinya Aoki, then down the road to UFC champ B.J. Penn. Melendez and
Thomson both echoed the sentiment that they were getting little respect
on the world scene. Melendez told Cagewriter he can beat anybody in the
UFC or Japan:
"B.J.’s
on another level," said Melendez (17-2). "[But] I think I could do better than a lot of guys do
against B.J."
Penn, the UFC lightweight champion, has won his four 155-pound title fights (Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson and Diego Sanchez) without really losing a round. He finished all four fights in nasty fashion.
"A lot of guys sit back and want to last with B.J. I’d
rather get knocked out in the center of the ring and go for it, than
sit back and try to figure it out. If things aren’t working, I’m
going to charge B.J. and try to knock him out. It’s better than just
running away and not being able to engage."
Melendez, a student of Cesar Gracie along with the Diaz brothers, is hoping to get his first big test against Japanese phenom Shinya Aoki. The 26-year-old Aoki added to his legend by breaking Mizuto Hirota’s arm in his last fight:
"He’s
probably on a mission right now. He’s full of confidence. Before he
was probably a little more of student. He’s a master now," Melendez said of Aoki, who has become very boisterous the last year about how he’s ready to go and "kill" fighters in the U.S. "This guy
is sounding pretty tough."
Melendez said he’s far from afraid of Aoki and his submission skills. He feels like his game is well-rounded enough to take out Aoki on the feet and he’s comfortable hitting the ground with him. He also pointed to Nate Diaz as a guy who can mimic Aoki well in training.
Melendez just wants to fight. He’d like to make the Strikeforce CBS card in April with or without Aoki.