Strikeforce Confirm Melendez vs Thomson

In March, Strikeforce put on StrikeForce: Shamrock vs Lee; their most successful card to date. A large crowd gathered in the MMA crazy city of San Jose to see a battle between two long time local rivals. The promotion hope to repeat the trick by pitting two more Northern Californians against each other in their next show at the same venue.

Following a year of anticipation, Strikeforce World Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Champion, Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez, will put his coveted title on the line against number one contender and Bay Area arch-rival, Josh "The Punk" Thomson, in the main event of a Strikeforce mixed martial arts mega-card, StrikeForce: Melendez vs Thomson, at San Jose’s HP Pavilion on Friday, June 27th.

“This is a very big fight for the fans, for the promotion and for Josh and me,” said the 26-year-old Melendez. “Josh is a great fighter, but I’m the champ and I plan on remaining the champ for a long time.”

Unbeaten after his first nine starts, Melendez seized the Strikeforce crown from former junior collegiate wrestling standout, Clay Guida, on June 9, 2006, battering Guida with kicks and punches for five rounds before being awarded the title by way of judges’ decision.

Following his conquest of Guida, Melendez took his skills to Japan’s now-defunct Pride Fighting Championship for a pair of fights in the second half of 2006. Nobuhiro Obiya and top-ranked Tatsuya Kawajiri were his victims, respectively.

Last September, Melendez returned to Strikeforce action, taking on Japan’s Tetsuji Kato in the main event of the first mixed martial arts event in history at The Playboy Mansion. Melendez suffered a broken hand during the fight, but persevered, effectively utilizing his jab and takedown defense to earn a unanimous judges’ decision after three rounds of battle.

The 29-year-old Thomson, a former wrestling star for NCAA Division I Stanford University, has been on fire of late, winning each of his last six bouts.

“This fight with Gilbert has been a long time coming and we’re ready to do it,” said Thomson, a resident of San Jose. “It’s not as if we need a feeling out period. We both know each other very well. We’ve trained together, we’ve sparred together. We’re gonna come out ready for five rounds, but we’re gonna bang it out.”

Regarding the condition of his shoulder, Thomson is optimistic. “As we’re training, it’s getting stronger so we’re just taking it one day at a time,” he stated.

Prior to joining the ranks of Strikeforce, Thomson, a member of San Jose’s Team AKA, established a reputation for being one of the sport’s most gifted athletes. A pair of victories in The UFC, including a majority judges’ decision over Hermes Franca four years ago, and a win in Pride are amongst the feats that have helped him achieve stardom.

During StrikeForce Elite Xtreme Combat: Shamrock vs Baroni the first-ever SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event on June 22, 2007, Thomson reintroduced himself to a national audience, submitting Nick Gonzalez with a rear naked choke at the 1:42 mark of the fight’s first round.