... unless he moves up to welterweight if and when the Strikeforce 155-pound talent pool dries up.

"Yeah I'm a free agent but at this point I already plan on re-signing with Strikeforce. I really believe it goes number one BJ Penn, number two Frankie Edgar and I really believe I'm number three in the world right now. I'm definitely coming for the number one spot but I got a lot to prove. It's gonna be hard because I don't fight BJ or Frankie Edgar so Strikeforce is going to have to come up with some people in the top ten for me to beat to help me prove that. Maybe I'll go up to 170, who knows."

"El Nino" shares his future goals with Heavy.com and it doesn't sound like they include defecting to the UFC like his friend and team mate Jake Shields. Melendez holds the Strikeforce lightweight championship and consistently finds himself among the top five fighters in his weight class. Can he jump to number one without a tour in Las Vegas? And what kind of impact can he make at 170-pounds?