Josh Thomson fought a near flawless fight as he dominated Gilbert Melendez for five rounds to become Strikeforce lightweight champion
'The Punk' overwhelms Melendez
By Jim Murphy
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.
THESAVAGESCIENCE.COM
More from the Top Team of
Writers in the Fight Game ...