Tag: Gray Maynard (Page 4 of 4)

      Is Gilbert Melendez the top lightweight in the world?

      April 12, 2011 /

      nullGilbert Melendez believes he is the top lightweight in all of MMA.

      At 19-2, he has a case to argue.

      Following his first round TKO win over Tatsuya Kawajiri last Saturday, the Strikeforce Lightweight Champion stated “I think it’s time to unify some titles. I’m the No. 1 lightweight in the world. Let’s get it done.”

      Melendez has looked better with each fight, but the question for him is competition. His two losses have been decisions to Josh Thomson and Mitsuhiro Ishida, but he avenged both defeats later in his career.

      Melendez shows great striking skills and underrated grappling ability and he has been pushed for 25 minutes on more than one occasion.

      While Melendez believes he has accomplished more than top UFC lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, I have to disagree.

      Edgar defeated B.J. Penn twice, something only Georges St. Pierre has accomplished. Maynard has been around for a shorter period of time, but is undefeated and beaten top opponents like Kenny Florian, Edgar, Jim Miller, and Melendez’ teammate Nate Diaz.

      Melendez’ argument is similar to that of Eddie Alvarez, the Bellator Lightweight Champion. Alvarez has been on a nice run, but because he doesn’t fight in the UFC, he arguably doesn’t get as much respect nationally as he deserves.

      Melendez has more of a case as he has fought tougher opponents, but until he steps into the UFC octagon, there will always be that doubt that he can contend at the highest level.

      Bellator, Fighters, Strikeforce, UFC

      Bellator fighters still competing for national respect

      April 2, 2011 /

      nullWith all the media buzz over Zuffa’s purchase of Strikeforce last month, many media pundits were left to wonder what competition was left for the premiere company in MMA—the UFC.

      Cleary Zuffa owns the two most notable promotions, but there are still plenty of other organizations that are trying to establish MMA stars.

      One of those promotions is Bellator, which will be hosting another card tonight featuring a lightweight championship bout with Eddie Alvarez defending his title against Pat Curran. The show will air live on MTV2 at 9 p.m.

      Alvarez is 21-2 in his MMA career with 19 stoppage wins. Some feel he is earning his spot in the top 10 of the lightweight rankings, but as Alvarez told Sherdog.com’s Mike Whitman, rankings are “nonsense”

      “I understand that in order to get in the rankings, you have to first gain popularity. And I’ve been saying this over and over. There are going to be guys in the next couple of years from Bellator who are going to be ranked in the top-10, and that’s not necessarily because they are better than the UFC guys,” said Alvarez during Wednesday’s media conference call.

      “[The rankings] are very subjective and very political. I think it’s more of a popularity contest than a talent contest. Rankings, to me, are just a way to negotiate my money with a promotion. Other than that, they hold no bearing. It’s all nonsense. A No. 1 guy can lose to a No. 10 guy any day of the week.”

      Looking at his career, Alvarez does hold recent wins over former UFC contenders Roger Huerta and Josh Neer, but he also has suffered losses to Shinya Aoki and Nick Thompson.

      A lot of times we like to look at a guy’s record and deem him a certain caliber, but that won’t satisfy my eye test.

      Continue reading »

      Bellator, Events, Fighters, News, UFC

      White open to overtime for UFC bouts

      April 1, 2011 /

      nullDraws are hard to come by in a MMA fight—especially bouts in the UFC.

      Judging is gauged on a 10-point must system over an odd number of rounds, so in most cases there should be a winner when the bout goes to a decision.

      However, recently there has been a pair of main events in the UFC to land a draw. Most notably was the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard lightweight title fight at UFC 125.

      A draw leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, including Dana White’s.

      MMAMania.com recently made note that the UFC President made the following statement during the UFC’s web series “The Aftermath”, a show that airs after each episode of The Ultimate Fighter.

      “I hate draws. I think it’s such a waste of everybody’s time and energy. (An overtime round is) something that I would definitely explore.”

      The draw at UFC 125 was a problem for a couple reasons. For one, there was no winner. Secondly, Anthony Pettis was scheduled to face the winner in a unification bout.

      Continue reading »

      Fighters, News, UFC

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