Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez was scheduled to fight Josh “The Punk” Thomson as part of the upcoming Strikeforce ‘Carano vs. Cyborg’ event on August 15. However, Thomson was forced off of the fight card due to a broken left leg he sustained during a training session. Due to this, we have learned that Mitsuhiro Ishida filled in to take on Melendez for the Strikeforce interim lightweight title.
Melendez currently holds an overall MMA record of 15-2-0, losing to Ishida at Yarennoka “New Year’s eve 2007” and then he lost his Strikeforce lightweight belt to Thomson back in June of 2008. El Nino was thrilled to have the chance to regain the title he once had, but was upset when he heard that Thomson would be unable to compete. Nonethless, he seems to be content now that he’ll still avenging his only other loss. The first time he met Ishida, Melendez lost a razor sharp unanimous decision which has been haunting him ever since.
Expect a war on August 15th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Click here to check out the rest of the fight card…
