A week and a half into the realization that he won't be going to the UFC, Gilbert Melendez (20-2 MMA, 10-1 SF) is getting used to the idea of fighting Josh Thomson (19-4 MMA, 10-2 SF) a third time.
"I guess it was inevitable," he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (
MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com) with a laugh.
But the Strikeforce lightweight champ would be lying if he said he isn't disappointed.
"I was hoping for something better, for some top talent, and it didn't work out," Melendez said. "Something to raise my stock."
Nothing could do that better than a UFC import. Melendez heard the same names everyone else did when a crossover fight was first rumored. The most heavily rumored names included B.J. Penn and Anthony Pettis. They just never materialized.
Thomson did, and now he and Melendez meet in a rubber match at "Strikeforce: Heavyweight Grand Prix Finale," which takes place May 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Melendez vs. Thomson serves as the main card's co-main draw, which airs live on Showtime. Preliminary-card fights air on Showtime Extreme.
Did Zuffa's (Strikeforce parent company) recent friction with Showtime sack Melendez's crossover fight? He admits to losing hope during that time, but he ultimately can't be sure why his wish to either fight in the UFC or fight a UFC fighter in Strikeforce didn't come true.
It doesn't matter now, anyway, because Thomson is the fight he has before him. There are fights remaining on his Strikeforce contract. It's a matter of keeping his eye on the ball.
"You just want more," Melendez said. "You want to be the No. 1 guy, and right now, it seems like it's put on hold for a minute. I've just got to have fun, do what I do, and stay focused on kicking butt."
Despite a lackluster showing in a recent fight against K.J. Noons, Thomson isn't the kind of guy to sleep on. The former champ handed Melendez his second career loss four years ago and took the lightweight belt from "El Nino."
A year later, Melendez won back his belt with a shutout of Thomson in a rematch. But he knows a third fight isn't less of a challenge. In the first fight, he said he felt helpless at times as Thomson outstruck him. Afterward, it became his mission to reinvent himself.
"Josh Thomson is tough because it's always going to be tough with him," Melendez said.
Thomson has expressed much the same about Melendez. What happens next is anybody's guess. A crossover could be in the cards for the winner, and it could not. A month remains until the rubber match. Melendez said he has two or three good years remaining in his career.
"There's always hope, and I can always hope," he said.
In the mean time, there's still plenty of time to get excited, and plenty of time to cross over.
