MMA Quick Quote: Gilbert Melendez wants Shinya Aoki on CBS
by Jesse Holland on Dec 26, 2009 12:02 PM EST
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Props: MMA Weekly
Quoteworthy:
"I think (Shinya Aoki's) tough. I think I have the proper game plan for him. I've got the proper training partners for him, and I think he knows I'd be a tough match for him. I'd love to fight that guy. If they could really make that happen in Strikeforce, I'm all over it. I'm ready for it, let's do it on CBS ... I'm the champ again, and now they're talking about me fighting the No. 2 guy in the world. One win away from being top five in the world again."
Undisputed Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez sets his sights on Japanese grappling phenom Shinya Aoki following his triumphant win over Josh Thomson in an action-packed war at Strikeforce: "Evolution" back on Dec. 19 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. With the win he not only unified the 155-pound title, but also avenged a loss from 18 months ago. Strikeforce President Scott Coker has been laboring to get Aoki to come to San Jose and test himself against the promotion's top lightweights -- but is he biting off more than he can chew? What happens when you pit the fury of "El Nino" against the submissions of "The Tobikan Judan?" Opinions please.
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Melendez has never
really impressed me. Don’t know why. Not a huge Aoki fan either as I think his pants help him, an he would have trouble dominating some of the American wrestlers. Don’t care to see this fight too much but if it happens, hopefully it’ll be a decent scrap
Not neccessarily Alpha!
Gilbert might indeed have the training partners to beat Aoki. Diaz brothers have some slick Jits.
All Gilbert need to do in training for aoki is to sit in the Diaz brothers guard, and practice inflicting damage while avoiding submissions.
Aoki is one of my favorites, but I wouldnt be surprised if Gilbert pounded him out! I like the way El Nino has become a patient striker that uses his striking well to keep his distance and make it hard for his opponents to get in close and take him down. If he fights like he fought his last two fights, he could do a lot of damage to Shinya while aoki tries to close the distance!
Keep in mind, I doubt aoki will be allowed to wear his tights in the USA!
Great fight, but stylistically, the better fight would be:
Gilbert vs. Takanori Gomi
hard fight to call
im a massive Aoki fan, i think the dude is well good, the only problem with him is i think his jaw is a bit weak and Gil has really improved his standup from a technical stand point, i also think Gil will be alot stronger than Aoki and i could see a repeat of the Aoki vs Hanson 2 with Gil standing in Aoki’s gaurd throwing bombs.
Speaking of the Diaz’s i would love to see Aoki vs Nate if Aoki ever went to UFC
Every night i would pray to God for a new bike, then i realized God does not work that way, so i stole one and asked him to forgive me
Johnny
I would be too quick for saying what you said also. Shinya got a huge advantage with his reach and his MT is a lot better than before. I wouldn’t go as far than saying that he’s top notch striker (like Mir, lol), but look what happened to Ribero…he got kicked for 15mins and he wasn’t able to do anything in his guard when he got Shinya on the ground. Don’t tell me that Melendez striking is good b/c it still sucks. El Nino style is, well…scrappy like the Diaz bros, but far from being as technical like Nick. Nathan sucks, so IDK what to say about it? Aoki’s MT is a bit more technical than Melendez boxing, but I’m not saying that he is a better striker or that he’s more effective though. One thing is for sure is that he’s as quick than Melendez.. Hellboy got a way better GnP, he hits way harder and got better boxing than Melendez and look what happened to him.
Alvarez is a superior MMA fighter than Melendez IMO and look what happened to him also. Aoki is so flexible and he’s got good judo throws, got an awesome rubber guard and omoplata/gogoplata, sick leg locks and heel hooks (ask your boy Alvarez, lol) that I believe is far superior than Nick or Nate jits anyway. The tights gave him an advantage, but that’s stupid to say that he can’t do anything w/o it. Just go look at his fight with Roger Gracie and you can tell that he’ll be more than fine w/o it. He don’t wear some when he’s doing the ADCC either. Plus I’m sure that you remember the link that I gave you on Kiezer saying that he might get an exception if he were coming to fight in America, so I wouldn’t be so fast to say that he won’t be allowed to wear them. I’m a huge fan of Aoki and IMO I don’t believe that Melendez is a threat like he think he is …even if he is more compose and a bit more technical than before. Shinya MT is enough to survive the El nino tornado and his ground game is something that I doubt that Cesar can mimic with his boys or that El Nino can survive.
alpha:
Are you trying to tell me that if El nino and Aoki fought under K’-1 rules, that aoki’-s Muy Tai wil beat Gil’s boxing? I really hope thats not what u r saying! i hope u mean that in an mma match, when Gil has to worry bout takedowns, that aoki’-s muy tai could be effective in closing the distance….cuz if Aoki choses to stand with Melendez, he will get his face caved in. My boy Shinya dont like getting hit, and his chin is suspect!
Are you trying to tell me that if El nino and Aoki fought under K’-1 rules, that aoki’-s Muy Tai wil beat Gil’s boxing?
lol, of course not silly! That’s why I said …“but I’m not saying that he is a better striker or that he’s more effective though.”
I’m just saying that by a technical point of view that his MT is more technical than Melendez Boxing. In an MMA fight his MT is enough to stand with Melendez IMO, but I’m not saying that he will get the better of the exchanges or that he will knock him out though. I don’t think that he would get his face carved in like you think if he’s standing with Gilbert.
Aoki is so fast that he can use his MT to block or counter strike Melendez while closing the distance w/o being worried too much of El Nino striking or power. When he is in closer range… you know how good he is…he stuck on you like clue by trying to put you down with legs sweeps, pulling guard or dragging you down by any means possible. His wrestling is not that good, but the guy is highly effective with his trips anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. I don’t see how Melendez could get this one to be honest. And don’t say that he’s got a suspect chin. He got ko’d by Sakurai that hit like a Mack truck and Hellboy got heavy hands also, so it doesn’t mean anything…Nakao was a fluke, lol!
I really like Gilbert's chances in this one
He’s in the form of his life and has been waiting for a fight with Aoki since their Pride days. Gilbert has the boxing, wrestling and BJJ skills to make him a threat against anyone, Aoki is sick on the ground and has the most dangerous ground game in the world but he’ll struggle to get the new patient Il Nino on the ground and even if he does, Gilbert is not an easy man to submit. Personally I think that Gilbert’s boxing is head and shoulders above Aoki’s Muai Thai and Aoki will struggle to clinch with Gilbert or take him down and even if he does Gilbert will be prepared for Aoki’s guard as he trains with the Diaz Bros and Jake Shields, all of whom have great BJJ and Nick Diaz in particular can help to mimic Aoki’s offense in training as well as anyone else. Add to that the fact that this will be a big fight on network TV in a cage in a foreign country and you’ve got to give the advantage to Gilbert. If this fight happens I’ve got him winning by UD.
This fight will prove that Melendez is one of the best LWs in the world and for this SF-Dream alliance to be meaningful it has to happen.
"Anderson Silva is the best fighter on the planet...any Anderson Silva fight that is on, people should be buying that PPV, not because he’s my fighter but you know what, he to me is like the Muhammad Ali of MMA...the UFC has been around since 1993, nobody (else) has 10 consecutive wins in the UFC. Anderson has had 10 fights in the UFC, only 1 has ever gone to a decision."
Ed Soares on why Andy is the best fighter in the world
Well I think that you're dreaming again like when you thought that Damien would beat Nate. No way that Nick can mimic Aoki's jits and Aoki was able to bring the best LW's on the ground in no time and submitted them.
We’ll see after the fight who was right on that, lol!
slow your roll alpha
name one guy that aoki has subbmitted in a mma fight wtout those pussy pants… if u havent rolled jits before u have no idea what a edge those pants give him.. i train jits wt a gi and wtout one wt under armour pants under my fight shorts… big difference man. way easier to wrap someone up wt under armour pants than wtout.
NOT TRUE
im not dumb. i wasnt going to listen to keelo when he said to avoid u. ur not dumb n ur not a shit talker. i have nothing but respect for u and all u write man. i mite have came off as a wiseass. i “m sorry. i just em so sick of hearing about aoki, yes his jits is top notch but i dont think it will be nearly as good wtout the pants. theres only a handful of people i have respect for as far as what they post. and u r one of them. once again i”m sorry for how i put that.
ok my bad, you’re right, I was trying to get belligerent and the name calling wasn’t necessary. I’m getting called these days by idiots for no reasons, so I might have jumped on the guns a bit faster than usual, that’s why I said that…forget about it!
Aoki is an ADCC Asia winner and he doesn’t use his pants in those tourney, so you can bet that he can submit anyone w/o GI or thights. His jits is really good, man!
I would take El Nino on this one
While I think Aoki has better wrestling and leg locks than the Daiz bros, I think his camp could get him ready for this fight. Gilbert has also become alot more technical and patient, which has let his skills shine. I would take El Nino by KO.
Aoki’s striking is pretty lame and can’t take Melendez down. Unless he gets a flying armbar, I see it being a bad night for Aoki. And I know Aoki is the man. It’s a rough style matchup for him. Melendez has great sub defense too, those Cesar Gracie guys just don’t get subbed. Although, a lot of times that just doesn’t mean shit against a guy like Aoki.
I just hope it happens. I think it would be a great fight.
that is a great idea
there is even the daiz vs. gomi background to the fight.
Holy shit, and John G. a few posts before has a great idea – Melendez vs. Gomi. That would something to see right there. No way that isn’t exciting. Although, and no one would’ve believed it 3 years ago, Gomi would be a step down for Melendez right now. Haha, not to say Gomi isn’t a supertough opponent who looks good on anyone’s resume.
Gomi should have to earn a title shot first
Past exploits aren’t good enough in my opinion, Aoki is the Dream LW champion so is the only man who deserves to walk straight into a title fight in SF. Gil would be far too good for Gomi these days anyway.
"Anderson Silva is the best fighter on the planet...any Anderson Silva fight that is on, people should be buying that PPV, not because he’s my fighter but you know what, he to me is like the Muhammad Ali of MMA...the UFC has been around since 1993, nobody (else) has 10 consecutive wins in the UFC. Anderson has had 10 fights in the UFC, only 1 has ever gone to a decision."
Ed Soares on why Andy is the best fighter in the world
Ths fight would totally rule. I just hope it happens. But no matter who wins, mma fans will just say they were overrated.
"I’m not going to stop yelling because that would mean, I lost the fight!"-Kenny Powers
shooter/cutter for AllElbows.com
by ekc on Dec 26, 2009 3:16 PM EST via mobile reply actions
MMA fans wouldn't call either of these 2 overrated
Only UFC or BJ fanboys who criticise any quality fighter outside of the UFC would discredit the winner of this fight.
"Anderson Silva is the best fighter on the planet...any Anderson Silva fight that is on, people should be buying that PPV, not because he’s my fighter but you know what, he to me is like the Muhammad Ali of MMA...the UFC has been around since 1993, nobody (else) has 10 consecutive wins in the UFC. Anderson has had 10 fights in the UFC, only 1 has ever gone to a decision."
Ed Soares on why Andy is the best fighter in the world
I like Gil but I think aoki wud Ty him up so quick! Aoki I think sub any LW out there Gil always has a chance but I wud pick aoki & luv to see him fight bj Penn !
by d*locc on Dec 26, 2009 8:51 PM EST via mobile reply actions
U no wuts up alpha
He tapped out Joachim hansen & Eddie Alvarez in the 1st round! He has sick ass subs
by d*locc on Dec 27, 2009 4:44 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
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