Melendez Is the New Number One Contender

There are very limited fights available in the UFC, that constitute the best of the best challenging each other. Jose Aldo vs Anthony Pettis would have been one of them. Alas it isn't going to happen, not in the foreseeable future. Instead once Pettis heals from knee surgery, he will defend his lightweight title against Gilbert Melendez.

Having the potential super fight with Aldo fall through isn't as disappointing as I would have thought. It's still disappointing, but the replacement is the best the UFC could have done outside the super fight. 

The path Melendez took to acquire the contender spot is different than most. Originally the UFC had tried to pair him against Khabib Nurmagomedov (a name I most likely misspelled). The undefeated Russian has been on a 21-0 tear, with most competitors appearing to be avoiding him in the UFC. The match up was significant, in that it was an imposing challenge for both combatants. The winner of which was sure to be in the top echelon of title contention.

In his debut in the organization, Melendez suffered a controversial decision loss to then champion Benson Henderson. Audiences were split on the outcome. Looking to climb back up the ranks, he went balls to the wall, battling Diego Sanchez in a fight of the year candidate for 2013. Check it out here.

Gilbert Melendez's career saw him rise through the lightweight ranks, eventually becoming the top unsigned athlete outside of the UFC. He was able to amass a 7-0 record while competing in Strikeforce, as their champion. During which he became entangled in a trilogy of wars against Josh Thompson. 

1-1 in the UFC, with a disputed loss, he chose not to face Nurmagomedov. It was a high risk, little reward situation. Melendez believed he should be valued, demanding a new contract with more money, and better value of match ups. Playing hardball with the UFC eventually lead to a stale mate, without either side coming to an agreement. Using Bellator to help speed up negotiations, Melendez gave the impression that he would be leaving the UFC for higher pay, a programming deal with the organization and a spot in their lightweight tournament, to compete for the title. His former promotion's only option was to match the offer, or relinquish one of the top fighters in the world to their direct competitor. 

It was a classic strategy, that Melendez took full advantage of. To counter negotiations with Bellator, the UFC gave their fighter a larger wage, coaching duties on the twentieth season of 'The Ultimate Fighter' and made him the number one contender to the lightweight title.

Now the super fight between Aldo and Pettis falls to the waist side. In place, Pettis will coach opposite Melendez on TUF. The two will face each other for his title at the end of the season. 

It will feature the introduction of the women's strawweight division in the UFC. A puzzling creation, since the women's bantamweight division is in essence a one woman division. Instead of building their rosters, the UFC has been focusing on creating more weight classes. It is all part of their 'World Domination' faze, that has been composed of choices that I find disagreeable. What should we expect from a new strawweight division, when the organization already has a slew of weight classes that are too thin?

I digress though. The focus here is Gilbert Melendez vs Anthony Pettis. Melendez was able to obtain what he wanted by forcing it out of the UFC. I do disagree with a one win then title shot scenerio, yet this can be viewed as a different situation. Many people (that I don't consider myself apart of) believe Melendez did enough to take Henderson's title way back when. An exciting outting with Sanchez and his standing as a perennial top three lightweight in the world, make the bout an understandable arrangement. 

We all are missing out on the Aldo match up being scratched. Though to watch Anthony Pettis get back in the ring, is an audience drawer within itself. He is up there with the top competitors in the world, though we aren't able to see him in action enough. Between injuries and etc. I feel like a Pettis match is a rare sighting. He is one of the most exhilarating fighters in the game today. Sometimes I feel like I'm watching 'The Matrix' as opposed to an MMA athlete. By the time Melendez faces him for the title, it will have been a year since he submitted Benson Henderson for it. Hopefully their match will be worth the wait. 

Let's check out what Melendez will be up against below. From Pettis winning the title.

To his infamous, showtime kick.

And his one shot and done, brutality over Donald Cerrone.