G.Melendez seems like such a fan..

...of the sport he's in.

Here's his post Kawajiri victory interview:

http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1031

For a guy that fights like a such a badass machine, he sure sounds like an average guy and ethusiastic loving fan of MMA.

Ive been saying that although i think his fight with KJ could have went either way, Gil came out with a lot because he really announced his presense on the elite stage of the LW division.

And he took nothing away from KJ and said he expected nothing less from him, the #3 guy in the world and said he wants to be champ by this year and fight Gomi because he's the best and sounded like he was a big fan of KJ and Gomi.

Pretty funny that he is now is at least an equal of KJ and a legit threat to Gomi.

He seems to have the game (wrestling, bjj, boxing) and the heart, cardio and tactics (moved very well against KJ and used his superior reach, showed first class mixing of boxing and wrestling - as did KJ) to be something else.

Matchup wise, i think Gomi's got an distinct edge on Gil. I think Gomi's standup should be superior due to Gil not having the reach ad he had on KJ and the fact that Gomi's hands are Gomi's hands but I cant say how impressed i was with Gil against KJ and if he mixes up his shoots with his hands like he did against KJ, Gomi is in for a very tough fight.

My hats off to Gil Melendez.

Potential mathcups on top of a title shot at Gomi down the road and rematch with KJ, with Azeredo, Hansen and Mach all seem to make explosive sense. All 3 of these guys can bang hard and have the ground game to go with it too.

Btw, i love Lindland and all but them Sprawl ads on the sherdog clips are so mma ghetto...

Gift? As is KJ definitively beat him? I think you're too much a fan of your own opinion, that fight was a typically could have gone either way/close as hell.

And by the seeming 50/50 split on here about it, id say im actually pretty right unfortunately...

Knocked down but KJ couldnt capitalize on it and Gil also staggered KJ shortly after that i believe. Gil pushed the pace more and was busier though it did look like KJ landed the better shots but which did not seem to effect Gil so...

They both got great tds off of punch setups but they usu. got back up right away though Gil i think got the best position in momentarily taking KJ's back.

Im not sure how or why the yellow card did not come into play though.....and yeah, i'd like to deal with it, i was going for KJ but i just think it was that close and most agree and that Gil made me a fan from that fight and that interview.

Point was KJ was already up there but Gil proved he is now up there too.

didn't know a lot about melendez before this fight... instant fan... humble, aggressive and tough... should be an exciting career..

It was a close fight.

However, yellow card is supposed to equal a point deduction.

Knock down equals 10-8 round for Kawa automatically, plus point deduction equals 10-7 round for Kawa.

That alone should have given the fight to him.

"It was a close fight.
However, yellow card is supposed to equal a point deduction.

Knock down equals 10-8 round for Kawa automatically, plus point deduction equals 10-7 round for Kawa."

Pride doesn't score by round and they don't use the 10 point must system.

Agreed that KJ got jobbed, but it was a pretty close fight!

Glad Gil got the decision!

"Agreed that KJ got jobbed, but it was a pretty close fight!"

Unless we're talking about the card, how does one get jobbed on a close fight exactly?

"Pride doesn't score by round and they don't use the 10 point must system."

LOL, thats what i thought and how in the hell would it have been right for KJ to have won an round 10-7 anyhow? Actually, when in the hell does a knockdown mean an automatic 10-8 in mma anywhere?

Anyhow......Gil made a great entrance onto the elite stage of the LW div, agreed?

...?

do they even use a 10 point must system in pride?? I thought they judge the fight as a whole, rather than round-per-round..

that fight was so close you could argue either way.. nobody got robbed it was a close fight and its different watching & re-watchin on TV than judging a fight live..

you can't argue it was a great fight, one of the best of the year...

and I'm glad my boy won!! hahahaha

Split decisions should go 1 extra round. Too much gray area in split decisions.

What's interesting is that he doesnt sound or act anything like the people from his camp. Certainly a nice suprise...

Gilbert is a good guy. Humble, works hard, and most of all seems to really enjoy what he does. This guy keeps proving me wrong, over and over again. His fight with KJ was very impressive and I think he's got a bright path in front of him.

TTT for Melendez. Good fight!!!!!

Even though I think Kawajiri did more damage....Melendez' agression was probly what won him the fight.

Its hard not to go with the guy who was pushing the action in a fight as close as that one.

And this is coming from a big fan of Kawajiri.

""Kawa won, deal with it"
gil knocked down kawa twice to his knees,and took his back,and took him down more,reversed him every time and was going all out till the last second.pride judges decided gil won,kawa dealt with it,pls everyone deal with it,it was thisclose.

I thought Kawajiri would stop him. Melendez impressed the shit out of me. I always hyped him at 143 but i didnt know if he could hang at 155. Turns out he is a freakin monster at either weight

Awesome wrestling and jiu jitsu. Good striking and nonstop cardio. And the most impressive thing of all is that his chin almost equals Gomis. I dont think anyone besides Melendez or Gomi could have taken that shot at 155.

I was lucky enough to see Melendez fight live in WEC when he first started his career. Been a fan since the beginning. I like the guy more and more after every fight.

He's not your typical GnPer, he's fucking ruthless. He's like Diego Sanchez, but he's also willing to go toe to toe (with Kawajiri!) and wing bombs with no regard for defense.

What is there not to like about him?

No talk? He's got to be the #1 contender for Gomi, and top 5 all lightweights in the world!!