Melendez to face Ishida on New Year’s Eve in Japan

December 3rd, 2007, 7:23 pm · 1 Comment · posted by CARLOS ARIAS

I caught up to Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez at the North American Mixed Martial Arts Expo on Sunday at Anaheim Convention Center.

Melendez was at the Expo with his Gracie Fighter teammate, Jake Shields, his dad and some his friends from his old Santa Ana neighborhood. Melendez was a star wrestler at Santa Ana High before moving to Northern California.

Melendez said he will jumping right back into training to prepare for his fight against PRIDE Bushido ace Mitsuhiro Ishida on the “Yarennoka” card on New Year’s Eve at Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The “Yarennoka” card is being put together by M-1 Global and former PRIDE/Dream Stage Entertainment staffers.

“It’s an exciting thing to be a part of,” Melendez said. “I hear they are trying to make PRIDE live forever … one last time at least. I’m excited to be on the card. There are some great fights on there. (Gesias) ‘JZ’ (Calvancanti) and (Shinya) Aoki. That’s the one I’m most excited about. I’m excited for my fight.”

Melendez, who is currently ranked No. 10 on Yahoo! Sports MMA pound-for-pound poll, is 13-0. Ishida, who is 14-3-1, hasn’t fought since last New Year’s Eve when he was stopped in the first round by PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi.

“That’s the one that’s going down, Ishida and I,” Melendez said. “Two top-10 lightweights going at it.”

Melendez said after Ishida his next fight would probably be against Josh Thomson for Strikeforce in March in San Jose.

“I’m still with Strikeforce,” Melendez said. “I’ll be fighting for them again in March. That (a fight against Thomson) is what they got scheduled for now, but nothing official, yet. I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen and that’s the fight. Right now, I’m just looking at Ishida and after that’s over I’ll be looking at my next opponent, which most likely will be Josh.”

It sounds like Melendez is eager to test the free agent market affter he fulfills his commitment to Strikeforce.

“I have a couple of fights left with them (Strikeforce),” Melendez said. “Once I’m finished I’m going to listen to all my options and take it from there. As of now I’m happy.

“There are all kinds of options out there. I’m just going to stay open minded and see what happens.

“Everyone has expressed a lot of interest in me. I love all of the organizations. I would like to be a part of all of them at times. I definitely want to fight someone like (UFC lightweight champion Sean) Sherk, and he’s in the UFC. I definitely want to fight someone like JZ, and he’s in K-1 (HERO’S). I want to fight a lot of fighters. I want to even fight (EliteXC lightweight champion) K.J. Noons. They are all in different organizations. I’m happy where I’m at. I get taken care of nicely, but as a fighter you want to get challenged.

“Right now, I love fighting for Strikeforce. I love promoting their organization. I’m the Strikeforce lightweight champ and I love being a part of it. They are cool about it. Scott Coker is cool. Obviously, I’m not allowed to fight in the UFC, but he’s open minded.”

So when is Melendez going to fight in Southern California in front of his hometown fans?

“You guys gotta make a big scene for me in San Jose and then, maybe, they’ll see enough people from down South supporting me up there and they’ll bring a whole show for me down here,” Melendez said. “That’s something I hope they are working on. I don’t get to choose the venues. I just show up to the fights.”

Melendez said he was surprised how well the two-day MMA Expo did in its first year.

“I thought this Expo was awesome,” melendez said. “I think it’s a good breakthrough for MMA. I was very surprised at the turnout. It was a great turnout. I’m glad I was a part of it. Hopefully, they have another one next year as well. It was a great time out here. It was good for the sport.”

CARLOS ARIAS/The Register

carias@ocregister.com

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