This past weekend we saw Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez blitz Japanese standout Tatsuya Kawajiri in the very first round.
It was an impressive performance against a guy that’s a perennial top ten lightweight and very difficult to finish. Yet, Melendez did it so easily that there is online chatter of him possibly being the best lightweight in the world.
Of course, all rankings are subjective and a lot of it depends on how fighters match-up stylistically but I think it’s worth discussing.
It’s certainly interesting to debate.
Most pundits had Melendez as the #3 lightweight going into the fight with Kawajiri, behind Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar who are ranked #2 and #1 respectively. Kawajiri was ranked #8 as of last weekend. So let’s take a look at the last five fights of each fighter.
Frankie Edgar:
- Frankie Edgar defeated Sean Sherk in May 2009
- Frankie Edgar defeated Matt Veach in December 2009
- Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn in April 2010
- Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn in August 2010
- Frankie Edgar fought to a split draw with Gray Maynard in January 2011
Gray Maynard:
- Gray Maynard defeated Jim Miller in March 2009
- Gray Maynard defeated Roger Huerta in September 2009
- Gray Maynard defeated Nate Diaz in January 2010
- Gray Maynard defeated Kenny Florian in August 2010
- Gray Maynard fought to split draw with Frankie Edgar in January 2011
Gilbert Melendez:
- Gilbert Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damn in April 2009
- Gilbert Melendez defeated Mitsuhiro Ishida in August 2009
- Gilbert Melendez defeated Josh Thomson in December 2009
- Gilbert Melendez defeated Shinya Aoki in April 2010
- Gilbert Melendez defeated Tatsuya Kawajiri in April 2011
Edgar got the #1 spot by pretty much besting BJ Penn who was the undisputed #1 lightweight in the world at the time. The first victory was questionable, but the second victory left no doubt. Veach was an undefeated prospect at the time, and Sean Sherk is a former UFC lightweight champion and was a top ten guy at the time Edgar beat him.
Maynard is actually the only guy that has defeated Frankie Edgar. He owns wins over Jim Miller(who wasn’t ranked at the time, but now currently is). He beat the always tough Nate Diaz, and beat a top ten guy in Kenny Florian. He then fought Frankie Edgar again to a split draw decision.
Melendez beat Rodrigo Damn and Ishida and they were not top ten guys at the time. Thomson actually had beaten Melendez earlier before Melendez avenged the loss. Thomson went on to lose to Kawajiri last December. Melendez dismantled Shinya Aoki who was ranked top 5 at the time, and then bested Kawajiri for a second time as we mentioned earlier.
I mean, Melendez did steam-roll Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki. So can Melendez leap-frog Maynard AND Edgar with the win over Kawajiri?
Personally, I have to say no. I can’t take away anything away from the performance Melendez put on against Kawajiri. He looked spectacular this past weekend. The fact that he already owned a win over Kawajiri and that Aoki is still kind of unproven on North American soil is just enough to keep him at #3. I mean, if Frankie Edgar is #1 and Maynard fought him to a split draw and already holds a win over him, I don’t see how Melendez can be #1 yet. Not to mention that was the first time Melendez had fought in about a year.
Where do you place Melendez after his performance against Kawajiri?