'The Punk' overwhelms Melendez

There’s obviously not any ‘truth in advertising’ law when it comes to the accuracy of fighter nicknames. Wanderlei Silva is arguably the most popular fighter in the sport, something not suggested by his ‘Ax Murderer’ moniker. Andrei Arlovksi, at least in his recent fights, has shown none of the aggressiveness and tenacity of a pit bull and outside the cage is known as a very gentle and low key individual. And tonight in San Jose, Josh Thomson displayed none of the characteristics of his nickname—“The Punk"—as he put on a dominating performance for five rounds and conducted himself like a complete gentleman after the horn sounded. Gilbert Melendez—who entered tonight on a short list of best lightweights in the world—was off balance literally and figuratively for the entire fight as Thomson scored with effective striking and a seemingly endless series of takedowns. The result was a whitewash unanimous decision triumph—all by scores of 50-45—as Thomson became the new Strikeforce lightweight champion.

The two fighters are friends and former training partners, so much of the usual prefight ‘trash talking’ gave way to more subdued verbal jabs. Melendez really didn’t have much to say about his opponent, while Thomson suggested that he wouldn’t be facing the toughest opponent of his career tonight in San Jose (which he emphatically took back in the post fight interview). Thomson may have also engaged in some pre-fight psychological warfare, as he continually bemoaned his slow recovery following shoulder surgery early this year. He went as far as to suggest that he might not ‘ever be 100% again’.

The fallacy of his decline as a fighter was evident from the opening horn, with Thomson pushing the opening round action at a frenzied pace. Melendez appeared to always be several steps behind Thomson tactically; when it looked as if he’d finally figured out Thomson’s striking, his opponent would take him down and start working his ground game. Melendez’s corner showed little concern after the first round, believing along with most experts that the superior conditioning of “El Nino" would eventually turn the tide.

That nonchalance quickly turned to panic and then desperation as the fight progressed. For the first time in his career Melendez was outworked, was pushed to a pace that he clearly wasn’t comfortable with and late in the fight found himself pitted against an opponent with equal—if not superior—conditioning. Thomson also displayed superior handspeed, an impressive counterpunching game and landed the more damaging strikes. Perhaps Thomson’s most impressive striking weapon was a wicked low kick, which he threw repeatedly to create spacing and set up other offense much as a boxer would work from behind a jab. When he wasn’t dominating the striking exchanges, Thomson was taking Melendez down with frightening ease.

Overall, it was an essentially flawless performance by the new champion and one that he was clearly enjoying. While Melendez’s face became more and more reflective of his frustration and concern as the bout wore on, Thomson was all smiles throughout. He punctuated this excitement and energy by offering Melendez a ‘high five’ at the end of the fourth round which, to his credit, he enthusiastically returned even as his championship reign was coming to an end.

Thomson’s career defining performance could have very well put him on a fast track to superstardom. He’s got the ‘look’ and charisma you’d expect from an individual who hyphenates his profession as “fighter/model". Despite his nickname, his persona is far from ‘punk-like’ or even arrogant like a Frank Shamrock or Phil Baroni; rather he’s got more of an endearing and amusing self confidence about him like a less “bonkers" version of Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller.  The new champ displayed complete class in his postfight interview as he clearly wanted to underscore his respect for Melendez and quickly retracted any negative comments he’d made during the prefight hype.

More importantly, he continues to improve as a fighter every time out. With his potent mixture of ground fighting skill, striking ability and impressive conditioning he could very well be champion for some time to come. Strikeforce may have also developed another ‘franchise player’ to build the promotion around, joining the phenomenal Cung Le as a young, talented and marketable nucleus.

The semifinal bout featured a matchup of highly touted prospects Nam Phan and Billy Evangelista. Though Phan entered the bout as a slight wagering favorite and a clear crowd favorite, Evangelista rode an overwhelming first round advantage (which could easily have justified a 10-8 score) to a split decision victory. After spending most of the opening frame eating punches on his back, Phan managed to keep the action standing for much of the balance of the fight though it didn’t prevent his opponent from pulling out the decision.

In the evening’s other title match, Bobby Southworth defended his light heavyweight title with an overwhelming—if less than thrill packed—unanimous decision verdict over Anthony Ruiz. Aside from a few submission attempts, Southworth was content to use his superior strength and wrestling ability to control and maul his opponent on the ground. Ruiz definitely came to fight and repeatedly managed to reverse or escape from a repeated series of dangerous situations, but did almost nothing to establish his own offense. The live crowd at the HP Pavilion made their displeasure evident at the fight’s deliberate pace, growing in crescendo in the later rounds and almost drowning out Southworth’s postfight interview.

In other matches on the card, Meisha Tate defeated Eleina Maxwell by unanimous decision while Chris Cariaso submitted Anthony Figuroa with a rear naked choke in the opening bout of HDNet’s live coverage. The other televised fight of the evening saw heavily hyped kickboxer Raymond Daniels dominated and submitted by tough veteran Jeremiah Metcalf in his MMA debut. Daniels, despite suggesting that he’d worked extensively on his ground game, looked absolutely lost once taken down. Metcalf fought a perfect fight tactically to neutralize a kickboxer’s skills, keeping the distance close and mauling his opponent on the ground. So complete was Metcalf’s dominance that Daniels wasn’t even able to attempt a single kick in nearly seven and a half minutes of action.