Editor’s note: With
three of four bouts on Saturday’s Strikeforce main card involving Northern California fighters, we’ll be breaking down
those fights.
In a depleted lightweight division, Strikeforce brings a
close to a rivalry between two of Northern California ’s
finest fighters in Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez and Josh “The Punk” Thomson.
Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Melendez is making his
return to the hexagon after a dominating victory over Jorge Masvidal in
December to retain his title. “El Nino”, who fights out of the San Francisco gym of the same moniker, comes
into the bout riding a six-fight win streak, which includes wins over Shinya
Aoki, Mitsuhiro Ishida and his opponent Thomson. That victory over Thomson
began Melendez’s reign as champion. He comes into this bout with a 20-2 record,
11 wins coming via KO/TKO.
Thomson, fighting out of American
Kickboxing Academy
in San Jose , on
the other hand is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over K.J. Noons in
March. It was an unimpressive victory and Thomson didn’t seem too pleased with
his performance. The victory over Noons was Thomson’s first win since October
of 2010. Thomson does have the record of a title contender, 19-4, but his lack
of in-cage action is not. However, one of his wins came against Melendez in
2008 and won him the Strikeforce lightweight title.
The fact that fans are being given Melendez vs. Thomson 3 is
a sign of how little depth there is in Strikeforce’s lightweight division. That is an issue that has been debated for months, but I digress.
The two previous meetings between Thomson and Melendez both
went to decision and, if history has shown us anything, that doesn’t really
mean anything. What we do know is that these two men despise each other. They
have both said they would enjoy knocking the each other out and want the
finish. This is, however, a match of polar opposites.
Melendez has shown his strength to be while throwing punches
or elbows. As evidenced by his TKO via elbows victory over Kawajiri in April of
2011. That match lasted a little over three minutes, but it was all Melendez
needed to prove his striking ability was dangerous.
“The Punk”, as showcased in his lackluster victory over
Noons, is a skilled mat technician and has nine wins via submission in his
career. His last submission victory came in June 2010 via a rear-naked choke
over Pat Healy.
As much as Gilbert will look to make things a battle of
strikes, Josh will try to make it a grappling match. The battle of Northern
California lightweights taking place in the South Bay
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