Gilbert Melendez came out the gates fast from 2002-2006 and looked like one of the best lightweight prospects in the world. Mitsuhiro Ishida derailed the "El-Nino Express" with an upset win back in 2007. Melendez lost what turned into a wrestling match at Yarennoka. This time around he made sure to fight out of low stance and thwarted all but one Ishida takedown attempt. When it did go the ground, Melendez was in the dominant position generally pressing Ishida against the cage. The Japanese fighter was gassed with two minutes left in the second round. After dancing around for much of the third, Melendez got it to the cage and planted Ishida on his rear end with a nice flurry of punches and knees. He quickly got to mount position and coverted it to his back. From there, Melendez sat down on Ishida and started raining down punches. He got off 17 unanswered punches, landing three huge rights to close out the fight and force the stoppage at 3:56 of the third round. Melendez retains his interim Strikeforce lightweight title.
On Sunday morning at 1:30 a.m. ET, ESPNRadio1100 presents the only live postfight show from the Strikeforce press conference. LISTEN HERE.
