Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez's days in the organization appear over. The standout lightweight will join the UFC's roster "ASAP," according to UFC president Dana White. A debut date and opponent haven't been determined, but White said it'll happen sooner rather than later. And if the timing is right, it could lead to an immediate UFC title shot. "Yeah, we do want to bring Gilbert Melendez over, and we're looking at it right now," White said following Saturday's UFC on Versus 6 event at Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center. "We're looking to bring Gilbert Melendez over ASAP." White, who also said Strikeforce heavyweight Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1 MMA, 3-1 SF) is likely to return to the organization, spoke definitively about the Melendez (19-2 MMA, 9-1 SF) move for the first time ever. After the UFC purchased Strikeforce earlier this year, he hinted at the possibility but stopped short of saying there was a concrete plan. However, Melendez, who recently cracked the top 10 in the media-voted Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings, now is making the move. Melendez, an early WEC fighter who's fought with Strikeforce and PRIDE since early 2006, is carrying a five-fight win streak with wins over notables such as Josh Thomson, Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Currently, he's slated to fight Jorge Masvidal in a Dec. 17 title fight, though it's not clear how a possible move to the UFC could affect those plans. White, though, isn't counting out the possibility that Melendez could get an immediate title shot in the UFC. While he's earned top-contender status on merit, White said it'll depend more on the timing of the title picture, which gets some clarity next weekend when UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar takes on Gray Maynard. "[The title shot] is a possibility," he said. "The thing is with that division, it's so stacked, there are a lot of possibilities. "We'll see what happens with the timing."
About ****ing time. Now if they lift Alvarez from Bellator they'll have about every decent LW on the planet.
Melendez decisions Edgar or Maynard imo, Unfortunately, considering how close the latter 2 are as fighters, we might have a Maynard-Edgar 4 before Melendez gets a shot at one of them.
I'm trolling because I said that I wish the UFC would pick up Alvarez thereby owning all of the top LWs?atsch I imagine you think that was "trolling" because I left your Japanese mancrush out and could care less if that Glass Jawed, Glass Hearted, quitting disgrace ever comes to the UFC. Face it, the guy won't do any better than the rest of the JMMA hype jobs that have come Stateside and will become yet another point for the irrefutable stance that Japan-based fighters are generally overhyped roid monkeys who can't deal with modern training methods and wrestlers. And while we're on the topic of hype jobs and your irrational love for the worst of them, explain what you get out of being such a ******ed, blind fanboy/nuthugger. As a guy who isn't a fan of any particular fighter and watches purely for the action and drama, I can't for the life of me figure out why the **** you watch MMA to form delusional ideas about one fighter and worship the very ground he walks on. Wouldn't you rather be known for making less inane statements and more correct predictions and analyzations of the matches than for sucking the **** of a shitty fighter you'll never meet?
Post Analysis: Name calling: 15% Generalizations: 35% Talk about glass: 10% Gay allusions: 30% Talk about how great MM is: 10% What did I miss? :think
Great news. Potentially the SF Champ who can make the most impact on the UFC division he enters at. Would love to see him fight the Guida/Hendo winner, but I suspect the winner of that fight will face the Champ.
Cold hard facts from me, random numbers posted by you. Brilliant work, you won't even try to help me to understand your dumb**** position. Name calling? Check, I call you and Ai-Edy names all the time because you're both dumber than dog****. Generalizations? No, I don't ever make sweeping generalizations. Glass? Yes, sure do. Punch resistance is an extremely important aspect of fighting and this is ESB where Chins are discussed. It wouldn't offend you if your favorite fighter didn't have a Fragile Glass Mandible. Gay allusions? Only towards you, because you're the only poster who comes off as a closeted homosexual due to your outrageous obcession with this China Chinned ***** Aoki. Talk about how great I am? Abso****inglutely. My stellar prediction record, detailed breakdowns that have won over even most of the haters, and my constant owning of you at every turn are indeed reasons to boast of my fight picking prowess. Also, if I didn't have mongs like you insinuating that I'm "trolling" when I make a comment like the one above that started this Beekeeper bash fest, I wouldn't feel compelled to speak of my all-time awesomeness ad nauseam.
What exactly do you get out of your annoying negativity and opinions? You're on a forum, man, a small one too. I don't know where you get off with all this absolute dribble. Show a bit of ****ing respect, man. Ugh, this hurts to read...
Gil should have probably been the first to go. He is arguably a better champ/fighter in his division than Reem, Shields or Diaz are in theirs! Time for some clarification as to what will happen to SF! Will they become a second tier or be finished. I don't think it makes sense to finish them as that leaves room for another major org to challenge the UFC. The UFC will never have ALL of the talent. If they keep SF they can literally have 90-95% of all the required talent.