Yo wft happened to Gilbert Melendez???

Sherwolf

Sherwolf

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Entered the UFC 21-2 and lost a split decision for the belt against Ben Henderson and he never recovered. He ended up losing a bunch of decisions after that fight. He was one of the OG BMFs and was way better than Nate (same level a Nick in his prime), but he never got the marketing push. Did they feed him too early to the wolves? I feel like he could have been a big star if the UFC marketed him right.
 
He was already at the tail end of his career in the ufc. People get old and retire
 
Sherwolf said:
Entered the UFC 21-2 and lost a split decision for the belt against Ben Henderson and he never recovered. He ended up losing a bunch of decisions after that fight. He was one of the OG BMFs and was way better than Nate (same level a Nick in his prime), but he never got the marketing push. Did they feed him too early to the wolves? I feel like he could have been a big star if the UFC marketed him right.
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You asking this like 4-5 years too late?!
 
Gil never struck me as a motivated guy. Kinda just seemed along for the ride. Was tough and eeked out a lot of close decisions.

Enjoyed watching him bang though.
 
I think in Melendez case, it was a mixture of getting old and not really evolving.

He was always a pressure fighter from the get go and by the time he got to the UFC, he was already through a number of wars in his career. I think his athleticism started to go and his striking deficiencies got exploited badly by a new crop of LW who could strike very well.

Keep in mind, dude was from the Penn/Gomi era.
 
Stricter drug tests, better competition, getting old. Also the love triangle Melendez/Thomson/Kawajiri was hyped for beating each other, but they weren't the top dogs even if they were legit.
 
Do people forget so easily who’s popped for steroids.
 
He got caught roiding
Once
When he was good
 
He had a long career before he ever fought in the UFC and he still did really well, most people thought he beat Ben Henderson for the title but Henderson kept getting decision wins that most people thought he lost around that time(Edgar 1, Melendez, Thomson).

He lost by submission to Pettis when Pettis was at his best, no shame there and his loss to Alvarez was 29-28, he got suspended for using PEDS at that point and had to sit out a year when he was at the tail end of his career and by the time he came back he just wasn't nearly as good anymore.

By the time he fought in the UFC he had been fighting for 10 years and had 23 fights against a lot of quality opponents.

Everyone declines at some point due to wear and tear and age.
 
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Melendez vs Barao - loser retires. make it happen.
 
DabraKajitsu said:
<HisEye>
My joining date of Sherdog makes me a casual? or a recent fan?!!!!!!!
Bitch please... Give me one name that is a good win.
Diego? WTF. Boy is trash.
Josh Thompson? B-Rated.
Some OG Japs? Trash and Overrated.
<JonesDXSuckIt>
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Good lord this post is awful.
 
ShreddinMMA said:
I think in Melendez case, it was a mixture of getting old and not really evolving.

He was always a pressure fighter from the get go and by the time he got to the UFC, he was already through a number of wars in his career. I think his athleticism started to go and his striking deficiencies got exploited badly by a new crop of LW who could strike very well.

Keep in mind, dude was from the Penn/Gomi era.
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He was mostly a pressure fighter/grappler like RDA and as he got old he couldn't really grapple nearly as well. I think he got old and it wasn't really about not evolving but devolving due to age and wear and tear. It happens to a lot of guys in MMA as they get older and their knees and backs don't work like they used to.
 
NoBiasJustMMA said:
He was mostly a pressure fighter/grappler like RDA and as he got old he couldn't really grapple nearly as well. I think he got old and it wasn't really about not evolving but devolving due to age and wear and tear. It happens to a lot of guys in MMA as they get older and their knees and backs don't work like they used to.
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He was a wrestle boxer true and through. Age catches up to you making that wrestle aspect harder and the fact he was never a huge LW anyway. Dude should have been a featherweight but used that lack of a cut to help his chin.
Guys like thompson, Aoki and Bendo dwarfed him in height
 
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