MMA Quick Quote: Is Scott Coker trying to save Gilbert Melendez from the wrath of Eddie Alvarez?
by Jesse Holland on Oct 22, 2010 10:06 AM EDT
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Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney seems to think so:
"There aren’t promotional issues. There aren’t any barriers. There aren’t any hurdles... What television network is it going to be on? We’ll do it on Showtime. Where will the fight happen? Well, let’s do it in San Jose. The answers to the questions are very simple. There’s no reason that fight shouldn’t happen but for the fact that the promoter of Gilbert Melendez doesn’t want it to occur."
So does the Bellator Lightweight Champion:
"Scott Coker doesn’t want it to happen. He’s trying to obviously protect his champion. I guess he has every right to. He has a business to run. Whatever... I want to be number one in the world, and the only way to do that is to fight people like Gilbert [Melendez]. If we can get our hands on him and the contracts work out, then that’s what we’ll do. Until then, it’s just talk. The paper’s gotta be signed. Let’s make it happen."
Well, things started off playful and nice, but now the Bellator boys (via Bloody Elbow) sound like they're past the talking stage of these negotiations. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently entertained the possibility of bringing the 155-pound champions (and consensus top five ranked lightweights) into a superfight under a co-promotion agreement. Of course there exists several obstacles when two promotions come together but if Coker can make it work with M-1, they can likely make it work with anyone -- and for probably a fraction of the price. Rebney has already conceded venue and network. What say you now, Mr. Coker?
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There is no reason why this fight should not happen...
Bjorn has already agreed to do everything to the benifit of Strikeforce. Make it happen, I see no resaon why it shouldn’t happen.
Hell, they made the Aoki fight happen, and the Diaz/Zaromskis fight happen.
I would definitely take Eddie over Gilbert in a close fight.
’’They've done studies you know... 60% of the Time, it works every Time...’’ – Brian Fantana
It is a fight I really want to see, and it should happen as long as Coker and Gilbert really want to fight Eddie
If the fight goes down, I think that the deciding factor will be wrestling. If Gil can get Eddie down, it will be a very close fight in Gil’s favor. If Eddie can keep is standing, I’d expect him to get the win. However, as seen again last night, Eddie seems to always get clipped in his fights.
I AM SOMETIMES BIASED - Get over it!!!!!!!
by ViolentMike on Oct 22, 2010 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree...
I think Eddie would win the stand up, and Gilbert would have the advantage on the ground. When Gilbert wants to wrestle it’s hard to stop him, would love to see these to guys fight!!
Why would Coker want to put together a superfight when all that would do is take time away from his freak shows and can-fights?
Our lives change like the weather, but a legend never dies.
No clue
I’ve been saying forever now he needs to bring in HMC vs Bob Sapp; main event, battle of the giants.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
First of all
Eddie would have to lose first before he gets his shot at Gil. Strikeforce formula ~ Loss=title/high profile fight.
The only way these other promotions are going to be able to take a significant chunk out of the UFC (or force the UFC to change how they do business) is to make fights like this happen. We would all love to see this fight. Make it happen.
We fight, get beat, rise and fight again.
exactly
Its the only way to take the attention away of the UFC events. Strikeforce already has gone the right direction with DREAM. That why i believe it is really strange that this fight has been taking so long wasnt Coker the one who first came with this idea ?
''You dont call retarded people retards, it's bad taste, you call your friends retards when they are acting retarded'' - Michael Gary Scott.
by robinhorobson on Oct 22, 2010 11:32 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
My theory...
Coker got bent over and shafted by M-1 and now views co-promotion as his new drunk, child beating step dad.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 10:49 AM EDT reply actions
No Eddie....
If you want to be the number 1 in the world, go to the UFC were you will face tougher competition. Thomson, Melendez, Aoki and so on are good, but you fight them every once in a while, in the UFC top competition is always around the corner…Maynard, Florian. Penn, Sherk, Gillard, Durham, Sotiropolous, Pellegrino, Guida, and I could keep going.
I don't think he has to go to the UFC to be #1
It would just be a faster route, tho.
* "Standing in the ring in whatever condition I'm in is my way of life."
* "I don't think the injury was the cause for my defeat, I lost being in 100% condition at fight day. It's possible that Santiago might have been injured as well, I lost because my best was insufficient, only mortifying thoughts remain now. I think I would've entered the ring even if I lost one of my legs, I'm a fighter who fights, not with technique, but with heart."
--Kazuo Misaki
Imo if you want to be considered #1 you have to fight in the UFC
It’s the biggest org with the most respected belt; taking that SF strap won’t make a fighter #1, hell even if he moved up to WW and beat Nick Diaz for his belt he still wouldn’t be #1 in either weight class. Public perception is that the best fighters are in the UFC, that the UFC champions are the real champions; imo if a fighter really wants that #1 ranking they don’t have much of a choice but to fight in the UFC.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree
If you want to be the best QB in football, you don’t play for the CFL.
by naturalshadow on Oct 22, 2010 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Depends who is in the weight class
Almost all of the best WWs in the world are in the UFC including the consensus number 1 GSP so beating Nick Diaz for the SF belt won’t make you the best. But at LW and HW there are still some top fighters not signed up by the UFC and these guys do have wins over UFC fighters and some had successful runs in the UFC and Pride so regardless of how well known they are you can still have guys be the best without being in the UFC if there are other top guys available to fight and beat. Eddie, Gil, Josh, Aoki, Kawajiri, KJ and JZ are all quality fighters and are all either top 10 or on the fringes, just because they aren’t in the UFC doesn’t mean that they are automatically worse than Frankie, BJ, Gray, Kenny, Gomi, G-Sop, Evan and Guida. Rankings depend on who you fight and beat, not on which promotion you compete in especially when you factor in co-promotion. The UFC have all of the top guys in some divisions but LW is not one of them, although they do have the single strongest LW roster as well.
"Stay classy San Diego"
Jon "Bones" Jones, MMAs best young fighter and the next LHW champion
Nah there's no way
Or at least chances are very slim. The marketing, the promotion, the public opinion all of that will sway decisions on rankings and all of that will be in favor of UFC Champions because they are the most publicized, the most watched and even their competition is hyped up and usually well known thanks to the advertising efforts of the promotion. Every time you look at a UFC fighters record, if he’s been in the promotion long enough you’ll go down the list and you’ll know almost every name. Every guy on that list will have been on a UFC PPV and had the hype machine behind him at some point and will have some type of name recognition and name recognition tends to go a long way; especially when discussing quality of competition. Their resume’s just look the best.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Don't believe that? Go look at the current rankings
The consensus #1 ranked fighter in every division is a UFC fighter. Some sites have Fedor at #1 still but he’s an exception not the rule, and I don’t see how they have him at #1 coming off a loss anyway.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
In a sport where the best do not always fight the best,
UFC fighters only fighting UFC fighters, favoritism and no real consistency in match making at all. I am surprised many even give the rankings the time of day. Tennis, boxing and golf have the best in the world competing against each other, the rankings in those sports give you little doubt, you really do have to take MMA rankings with a pitch of salt. There will never and should never be a Sportsman of the year in MMA, unless what people generally consider to be the best fighters in the sport compete against each other. The UFC could do one event a year or whatever to prove that they have the best. They do not because they have more to lose than gain, and most do not seem to be all that concerned as long as they get to watch exciting fights, or believe it is down to a fighter to sign UFC contract to prove himself , even though they would gladly take a fight against a UFC fighter without one, Overeem said Dana just needs to say the word as his contract allows him to fight in different orgs. .The UFC is the centre of the universe for most MMA fans, and it can do no wrong, but to leave no doubt about the rankings in MMA , top fighters should not have to be forced to sign a UFC contract to prove that they should be ranked higher than what they actually are.
Did you just use boxing as an example
of the best fighting the best? ROFL!
Those promoters and belts protect their fighters way more than UFC.
I wish a boxing promoter had as much talent under one banner like the UFC, then we would get those matches.
The rankings in boxing are worse off than MMA. There is four major titles
(plus ring) and way more weight classes separated by only a few pounds. Champions of rival belts are unranked by other orgs, it’s a freaking mess, dude.
"That wasn't just winning. I mean, that was just demolishment."
the thing that sucks is that Bellator contracts
are as v icious as UFC contracts. Eddie Leaving the promotion without losing a fight is simply not possible.
Big Nog for Life
Inventor/supporter of "Gleison Tibau to Featherweight" movement.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Oct 22, 2010 12:46 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Isn't he still only contracted to Bellator for a certain # of fights though? Or is it the champions clause?
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
champions clause
unfortunately. My question is this: Can’t they just give the belt back and let them hold another tournament for it?
As much as Eddie has been impressive, I would take the dominant wrestler all day.
Gilbert by decision.
Fuck Ben Askren!
i've got gil in that one anyway, but if bjorn is willing to let it happen on a strikeforce card then do it coker!
It does not get any better then the Mayhem and a bunch of sexy Japanese girls.--- The Voice
by DetroitDrew1980 on Oct 22, 2010 12:06 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
how....
gil would have nothing for Eddie IMO. He won’t wrestle him down…..he sure as hell won’t outstrike or outbrawl him. Eddie is hittable but got a strong chin and resilience. I think it looks like the Josh Thomson FOTY candidate but with Eddie landing cleaner IMO.
Big Nog for Life
Inventor/supporter of "Gleison Tibau to Featherweight" movement.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Oct 22, 2010 12:48 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
agreed here
Gil throws a little wild when he’s in the pocket and that leaves him open. I still want to see this fight!
i do see gil getting this too the ground, i think huerta was a perfect opponent for his style and gil is the opposite.
but if this stays standing gil dosn’t have a chance.
It does not get any better then the Mayhem and a bunch of sexy Japanese girls.--- The Voice
by DetroitDrew1980 on Oct 22, 2010 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions
i'd take Alvarez 110%
Sorry I don’t but Melendez. Aoki was perfect for him. So was the sloppiness of thomson etc. I think Alvarez would destroy him. I’d put some good coin on him as well.
www.mondaymorningblackbelt.com
by daniel worby on Oct 22, 2010 1:00 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
waaaaaah! i meant "buy" not "but"
www.mondaymorningblackbelt.com
by daniel worby on Oct 22, 2010 1:10 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
You meant "think I could resist making sweet love to" instead of but.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
C'mon, you know you'd "butt" Melendez given the opportunity.
I AM SOMETIMES BIASED - Get over it!!!!!!!
This would be an amazing fight
But SF has a ton on its plate right now with the HW division – trying to manage M-1, Overeem, etc. I think this fight would roxor my boxors, but I can’t blame Coker or SF for delaying it. They know as well as we do that everyone wants to see it, but I’m willing to be patient.
Ha! They got like 5 guys on their "plate" right now; Champ's tied up in K-1, the #1 contender's out injured and Fedor only wants a fight with one of those two
Who else is there? Bigfoot vs Rogers I guess; what’s funny is 3 guys being tied up completely stalls their entire HW division. So weak.
"Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell"
- Manowar hymn of the immortal warriors
by O damn he got caught on Oct 22, 2010 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions
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