Gilbert Melendez to Defend Strikeforce Belt Against Jorge Masvidal in Late Fall

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/08/12/gilbert-melendez-to-defend-strikeforce-belt-against-jorge-masvid/

Quote :

Gilbert Melendez's desire to fight in the UFC will have to wait. The Strikeforce lightweight champion will square off with Jorge Masvidal in his next title defense, which will take place in the fall, according to Melendez's trainer Cesar Gracie.

In a Friday interview, Gracie told MMA Fighting that a date had not yet been decided upon, but that the camp had been informed of the championship pairing.

Strikeforce has not yet announced any events past September, but it is not expected to host any major events in October, making November or December the likely target for the bout.

The fight comes as no surprise. It had previously been rumored after Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker called the winner of June's Masvidal vs. KJ Noons fight a "frontrunner" to face Melendez. Masvidal won the bout via unanimous decision.

In his most recent bout, Melendez returned after a one-year layoff to crush the "Crusher," Tatsuya Kawajiri, in a 3-minute, 14-second TKO. The victory was the fifth straight for Melendez, who improved to 19-2.

Afterward, he spoke about the possibility of moving over to the UFC like teammate Nick Diaz, but it appears that possibility has been shelved for the time being.

Masvidal's win over Noons in June was his second straight win and third in his last four outings. The victory helped him improve to 22-6.

....in late Fall...

Sounds like BS. Strikeforce cannot have a show in late fall.

GDPofDRC wrote:

....in late Fall...

Sounds like BS. Strikeforce cannot have a show in late fall.

why not?

remember fall does technically end Dec 20.

Hope Melendez crushes Masvidal.

captain organic wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

....in late Fall...

Sounds like BS. Strikeforce cannot have a show in late fall.

why not?

remember fall does technically end Dec 20.

Yeah what?

I'm gonna guess Sarah vs Meisha is on this card

Hey the Prix Final could be too if it's late Dec, that'd be a decent amount of time in between

Prix Finale
Gil vs Masvidal
Sarah vs Miesha


Nice start to a card.

This is a good fight...may end up being Gil's toughest matchup to date just because Jorge is so quick on his feet and is a threat to point grub as well as fight agressively.

Masvidal seems to be really coming into his own but Gil is so driven right now..don't see him losing.

I can't see Masvidal point grubbing on Gil, I actually see wrestling as maybe Gil's biggest adv here.

Jorge could def give him trouble on the feet.

But I agree that Gil just seems too driven right now, he was an unleashed animal vs crusher, and the Zuffa buyout may have him even more amped up.