This is a Q&A
interview I conducted with Gilbert Melendez prior to his title fight against
Benson Henderson for the UFC on Fox Card in April of 2013. Gilbert was a really
laid back and nice guy who took some time off on his only day off that week to
speak with me. We discussed his upcoming fight with Benson, the Caesar Gracie Team, and as Strikeforce Lightweight Champion.
The UFC Lightweight Division is arguably the deepest division in the UFC right now. Why do you believe you were given the title shot over many other top level fighters in the division?
Well I have been in this sport a long time. I think my
record and accomplishments speak for themselves. There is a lot of talent out
there it, a lot of it has to do with what I have accomplished. A lot of it has
to do with timing. I think it obviously champion vs champion. People want to
see this fight. I am kind of a mystery guy. Am I the best or Am I a joke but we
all know what is already going on in the lightweight division. There is a
pecking order there, except where I stand in that division. Am I at the top or
am I at the bottom. It intriguing to figure it out.
Many combat sports
enthusiasts talk about the heart of a Latino Fighter in boxing and in MMA. As a
Mexican American, how would you define the heart of a Latino Fighter and how it
differs from fighters from other cultures.
I am definitely a Mexican American. I don’t speak very good
Spanish and I get made fun of by my by all my cousins, family, and friends in
Santa Ana (Gilbert’s hometown in Southern California.) There is one way I
can relate to my Mexican peeps and that
is the way I fight. The Mexican blood in me. I fight with my heart. It is more
important for me to show the warrior in me than to win. I would rather not be a runner. To answer
your question, we fight with a lot of heart. It is obvious that a lot of
Mexican do that and it is more important for us to go out there and fight our
hearts out then try to win a stick and move victory. They would rather respect
the loser that put it out there. The Mexicans are trying to run the sport and once
we do we will dominant with our hearts like we always do.
Were there any Latino
fighters that you looked up to as you were growing up?
Tito Ortiz was a guy that was Latino, a Mexican American who
has my same roots. I grew up in Santa Ana, California, the same area he is
from. We both wrestled in high school. He is a guy I looked up to who could
scrap because of wrestling and could throw hooks because he is from the area.
Sometimes you get in fights. He is a guy I looked up to and still look up to. I
think he annoys some MMA fighters, but I am from the same neighborhood, I am
the same style as him. Tito was someone that I could look up to that was
Latino.
HP Pavilion has been
your home arena for many years while fighting for Strikeforce. Can you talk about
the great atmosphere in that venue and how the home field advantage will
benefit you as you fight there for the UFC Lightweight title?
It’s Amazing. I love
fighting in HP Pavilion. It is basically my home turf now. Fought there plenty
of times. It is exciting to get the
title fight on Fox and its in my backyard. I think it is going to be great. The
UFC Octagon is unfamiliar, the whole UFC production is a bit unfamiliar, but
one thing that will be familiar is HP Pavilion, my crowd cheering for me and the
locker rooms and the walkout songs are all going to be familiar so it’s going
to play a big advantage.Usually when you fight in another
city like Las Vegas, fighters usually stay at a hotel.
Since the fight is in
San Jose will you stay at home and go through your regular routine or at a
hotel to get away from distractions?
I will probably transition the last couple of day to San Jose just because the UFC has me doing a lot of media stuff. If the fight was in San Francisco or a little bit closer of a commute I would come back and if it an available option, I would definitely come back. I have a hotel right now for the last couple of weeks for me to jump back and forth to, but I really miss my family, my daughter and my fiancée. They are actually good for me. My fiancée cooks for me, helps take care of me and is my friend so I miss out. I do like to come home. I do feel comfortable and it is a good place for me to be. I go back and forth with it. If it doesn’t really interfere too much I will come ho if me for sure. I would like to sleep in my bed the night before the fight if it makes sense for me.
The Caesar Gracie
team has come up short in several UFC title fights in recent memories (Nick
Diaz vs. Carlos Condit, Nate Diaz vs Ben Henderson, Jake Shields vs GSP). Does
that add any extra pressure on you and can you elaborate on how important it is
for you to be the one who finally brings the UFC title back to the Caesar
Gracie Team?
I would love to be the person that brings the title back to
the Caesar Gracie Team. All of my friends have done a great job getting there.
It is just amazing that my teammates have made it there. Now, I can say I am
the same with them. Yeah, there is pressure for that, to be the guy to do it.
It has been brought to my attention that we are 0 for 5 in title fights. I take
my job seriously, but I am just to go out there and do my thing, win or lose I
know I have my girl who loves me, my family who loves me, and my team who loves
me and is loyal to me. So I don’t feel too much pressure for that kind of stuff,
to deliver for them. I just need to do my best and delivery for myself.
Your Caesar Gracie
teammate Nate Diaz fought Ben Henderson for the UFC Lightweight title this past
December. How much has the experience of training and game planning with Nate
for that fight and watching his performance in that fight helped you in your
training and preparation for Henderson?
Of course it helped me prepare. Nate did catch a nasty
punch, which was a legitimate punch, by Ben Henderson at the end of the first
round and I could tell a noticeable change in the fight for the way Nate was
fighting. Nate was fighting with one eye and wasn’t really excelling. I was
able to pick up a lot. Nate was able to give me a judgment of Benson strength.
I was able to see him there in person. 7:20
Vice versa, you are
very familiar with Nate Diaz’s opponent Josh Thomson. What advice and insight
have you given to Nate on Thomson who you have fought three times while in
Strikeforce?
Nate has helped me prepare for Thomson all 3 times as well.
He knows Josh just as well me. Nate and are different styles, but I think some
things are going to work better for Nate and I think it is a great matchup for
Nate. Thomson is a tough guy and he is definitely going to be ready. I am doing
all I can. Nate sometimes loses the scorecard but most of the time wins the
fight.
In addition to your
regular training partners, the Diaz Brothers and Jake Shields, who else have
you brought in for your training camp to help prepare for this fight and what
was the thought process behind bringing in each of these training partners?
Kron Gracie is the biggest guy I have brought up and he is
coming back in. Kron is just an amazing grappler, leads with his right leg and
has a similar style to Benson when it comes to his grappling. He is straight up
the best grappler in the world. It doesn’t get better than that. I like to
scrap and get in these crazy positions like the guillotine that Benson is
really good at. I like to give Kron my back and try to battle out. There are a
lot of things that he works well at.
I am also bringing in Daniel Roberts in. I have a lot of guys
that are already great strikers. I have guys that I think are better strikers
than Benson. The thing about Benson he is not the world’s best striker, the
world’s best wrestler, the world’s best grappler, he is a real mixed martial
artist. He can put all his techniques together. His striking is better because
he fakes the shot first. He is mixed martial artist and so am I. I am the same
way. I have plenty of good strikers already and plenty of good wrestlers, but I
am bringing in Daniel Roberts who is an old scrap pack member who is in Tulsa
right now and he is coming back in. He is a guy who is a MMA fighter. He can
kick, shoot and do athletic stuff like Ben.
You are currently the
number 1 contender and Nate Diaz is ranked 4th. Both of you are in
your prime and one of you could be holding the title in the near future. Can
you ever envision a scenario where you would fight Nate and what are the
protocols that the Caesar Gracie team has in place in regards to teammates
fighting?
Protocol is loyalty before loyalty any day of the week. That
is my buddy and I don’t need to fight him. If somebody offered me $3 million to
fight Nate and $2 million to fight someone else, I would rather take the pay
cut. But Nate’s my boy and we train together. That is not how we roll. We are a
different kind of team. We are grassroots together. It is different. I can
understand why some teammates fight each other because they are a different
kind of team, but for us that is not how we work.
The UFC purchased
Strikeforce in March 2011 and moved many of the top fighters in Strikeforce
including Nick Diaz, Alistar Overeem, Dan Henderson, and Cung Le over to the
UFC. However, due to the Zuffa and Showtime dealings, you weren’t able to move
over. How frustrating was that experience for you and how satisfying is it for
you to finally make your debut in the UFC on the UFC on Fox card at HP Pavilion?
When you put that way, it is worth it at the end of the day.
Immediately it was a bit frustrating seeing my boy go over there and me having
to sit back. But I am also an employee. I am a team player and if I needed to
stay back for Zuffa and that what I have to do then I would do. Hopefully it
would be for the better for my career. I want to have a long career in this
business inside the cage and outside the cage so I felt like I was taking one
for the team and hoping it wouldn’t last forever. It started lasting forever
and I started thinking that maybe I would be in Strikeforce the rest of my life.
Then all of sudden things switched and then I got so excited. Then I out my
next fight is going to be in the UFC, then I find out my next fight is for the
UFC title. Then I find out my fight is going to be in HP Pavilion. Then I find
it is going to be on Fox. This is something I have waited for a long time, I
have been ready for it for a long time and it is finally here. It has been a
roller coaster ride, but it is great to be at this point right now.
You have not fought
in nearly a year due to the Strikeforce schedule and injuries. How have you
dealt with the time between fights and how have you grown as a fighter and a
person during your time off?
I run my gym with my fiancée. I train people I am in there
training. Yeah, I was injured. I am not supposed to be sparring with one arm,
but I am in there sparring with one arm. I am drilling with one arm. I am still
working. The doctors said stay off the mat. You don’t want to be post pictures
because people will say “oh you can fight.” The truth is I am going to train
with one arm. I don’t care. I have gotten better. I have had a lot of time to
lift weights. I feel like I have put on a lot of muscle and gotten really
durable knowing I have to fight Benson. I have been able to work on lot on my
game plan. I feel like I have used my time wisely to evolve and get back to
where I need to be.
You have headlined
many big fights, fought on national TV several times, and are used to the
spotlight and attention. The UFC on Fox Card on April 20th brings
along more media attention and obligations. How have you dealt with or plan on
dealing with the extra attention and media obligations during your training
camp leading up to the fight?
The main thing with this training camp is I have been doing
two workouts a day and I have been able to wake up earlier and divide them up a
little better. Sometimes I would start them a bit later 12 pm or 1 pm and then
come back and train at 7 or 7:30 PM and it just wasn’t enough time to rest. Now
I am training at 10 AM or 10:30 AM and sometimes I start at 9 AM, 11 AM at the
latest. This allows me to have a lot more recovery time and to get some other
stuff done. It maximizes my rest time and with that rest I am able to get more
of these interviews done. Rest is so important and I felt like I have been able
to get a lot of that which helps me train harder.
Why do you believe
you are the man to dethrone Ben Henderson at on UFC on Fox on April 20th?
I feel like I have been the man to hold that UFC title for
the last 4 years. I just so happened to be in Strikeforce and Ben Henderson so
happened to be the UFC champ right now. I feel like I have what it take to beat
him. I feel like I am a warrior. I feel like I am a fighter who has become an
athlete. I feel like he is an athlete who is starting to become a fighter. I
feel like I want this so bad. I feel like I have prepared all my life for this
moment. I am definitely coming for that belt. I think I have got what it takes.
My hands, my fists got what it takes to put this guy away.
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