Gilbert Melendez reflects on fighting for UFC championship in promotional debut, claims he "got robbed"
Gilbert Melendez recently reflected on challenging for a UFC championship in his promotional debut and claims he was robbed of a decision. It was a significant bout as the promotion ushered in a new era after bolstering their roster with the addition of Strikeforce's top fighters.
Before fighters like Kai Asakura received an immediate title shot when joining the promotion, Melendez was among the most notable to do so. 'El Nino' was the reigning lightweight champion, and so was awarded an immediate lightweight title shot against Benson Henderson in a special champion vs. champion bout.
During his latest appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON PODCAST, the former Strikeforce lightweight champion shared his thoughts on his split decision loss to Henderson. Melendez mentioned that he believes he won the fight and went as far as describing it as a robbery by the judges, who scored the bout 48-47, 48-47 and 47-48:
"My first fight in the UFC was for the [lightweight] championship...You can't tell me different, I beat [Henderson] this night. I got robbed, I won this fight. I beat him up, I truly believe that. I think, 99% of the people believe that. He had some really good leg kicks and he was fast but I felt like I won that fight. It was great, man, he's a savage. I actually really like Benson, but I think I was the better fighter."
Check out Gilbert Melendez's comments below:
Gilbert Melendez opens up about his team being synonymous with excellent cardio
In addition to opening up about challenging Benson Henderson for the lightweight championship in his UFC debut, Gilbert Melendez discussed his team being synonymous with excellent cardio.
During the aforementioned appearance,'El Nino' shed light on the famous 'Skrap Pack', which featured himself along with other notable fighters like Jake Shields and the Diaz brothers, being known for their intense training to prepare for fights. Melendez mentioned that long distance sprints were a fixture in their training and has carried it over when training young fighters because of the benefits:
"[The Diaz brothers] were really the first guys who were really doing the triathlons and running distance. And when I first box sparred them, I thought I was in shape but I realized that I kinda wasn't and they were kinda volume guys...A big thing I do with my fighters to this day...is I do 400s [meters], 200s [meters] and I do sometimes 800s [meters]. To me, those are like the toughest sprints."
Check out Gilbert Melendez's comments below: