Gilbert Melendez to defend his Strikeforce Lightweight title against Jorge Masvidal – MMA News
Strikeforce will be holding a bout between American mixed martial art (MMA) fighters Gilbert Melendez and Jorge Masvidal. They both have been Strikeforce competitors for a long time and they would once again enter the fighting
cage to get an edge over each other.
Their main event will be held on December 17, 2011 in San Diego. According to reports coming in from Strikeforce, this will probably the last time when Melendez fights for Strikeforce. The 29-year-old Melendez would be defending
his lightweight championship against Masvidal.
Melendez won the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship for the first time in June 2996 against compatriot MMA fighter Clay Guida at Strikeforce: Revenge held in San Jose, California. He lost the title to Josh Thomson in June 2008.
Melendez won the Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Championship in April 2009 by beating Rodrigo Damm. Melendez has been lightweight champion since then and in December 2009 when he defeated Josh Thomson, he won the unified Strikeforce Lightweight Championship.
He would be facing Masvidal for the title and hopes to retain it one more time. Masvidal could get intimidated by Melendez for the latter is enjoying a five fight winning streak in his MMA career. His opponent for December 17,
2011, Masvidal has been a champion only once, when he won the Absolute Fighting Championship (AFC) Welterweight Championship belt in June 2006.
According to the some reports, Melendez has been ranked as one of the top lightweight fighters in the MMA division. He has been one of the top contenders for the lightweight championship ever since he stepped his foot inside the
Strikeforce cage and he did prove his worth by not only winning the title but defending it in successive bouts.
For Melendez, his fight at Strikeforce event against Masvidal would matter the most. This might be his last fight at the promotion and he would definitely be looking for a win. His next step would be to move into the Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) and prove his worth among the best MMA fighters in the world. Melendez said, "I want to be the UFC champ. That's the goal. When you're the UFC champion you're No. 1 in the world."
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