The El Nino Effect: Gilbert Melendez

Gilbert Melendez defends his Strikeforce lightweight belt against Shinya Aoki at Strikeforce: Nashville

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If there is one thing you can say about Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez, it’s that he’s not afraid to face his demons. The only two losses on his brilliant fighting resume were suffered and avenged in the space of less than two years.

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Melendez is currently the Strikeforce Lightweight Champion, after a clear, unanimous decision victory over Josh Thomson, who had clearly beaten Melendez the first time they fought. Both fights garnered them fight-of–the-year nominations, but the 2009 tilt was an especially epic slugfest. Epic is, in fact, classic Melendez.

Originally a wrestler, and holding a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (from the vaunted Cesar Gracie camp, where he trains with Jake Shields and the Diaz brothers), Melendez is well-known for his ferocious ground-and-pound. To get there, his bread-and-butter is striking, and it is his fists that can be credited for a loyal and growing fanbase (he has over a thousand fans on Facebook).

Melendez cut his teeth in the pre-Zuffa WEC, where he took the lightweight belt in three straight fights. He dabbled in Shooto and PRIDE, defeating high-calibre opponents like Tatsuya Kawajiri, and lost to Japanese grinder Mitsuhiro Ishida in El Nino’s last Japanese appearance (Yarennoka, New Year’s Eve 2007). Nevertheless, Melendez’s lengthy tenure in Strikeforce bookends his tour of Japanese elite lightweights, and it was there in 2006 that he beat UFC notable Clay Guida in a split decision, winning the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship.

Melendez is one of the few champions in any MMA promotion who has lost a belt only to regain it. More to the point, he got his belt back by improving in a dimension where he was beaten. He didn’t change his game-plan; he bettered himself, and then bested the one who beat him.

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Did someone say Japanese elite lightweights? The second-biggest (and dark horse) fight this Saturday, April 17 at Strikeforce Nashville, Melendez faces off against Japanese grappling sensation Shinya Aoki, as famous for his vicious submissions as he is for his post-sub antics. Look for Melendez to submit Aoki to a vicious taste of good old American-style sprawl-and-brawl, and for Japanese MMA (as Aoki has called out American MMA) to suffer the pugilistic hurricane that is the El Nino effect.

By Roy Kok
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer