UFC Quick Quote: Gilbert Melendez is ‘pretty good’ at everything, not ‘awesome’ at anything

"Honestly, he's pretty good at everything, I wouldn't say he's awesome at anything. And I don't mean that as a diss. I mean that as a compliment because his real strength is his spirit and his, ‘I'm going to win this fight,' his will to win, I guess. He's just going to win, he's going to do it no matter what it takes. I think that's his real strength. I don't know if that's an attribute that you can write down or an intangible that he feels he is going to win every fight. That's really hard to beat in somebody. If they feel they're going to win, that's a tough thing to deal with. I feel that's' his best attribute."

-- On his recent appearance on "The MMA Hour," John Crouch, head trainer to current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson, gave his overall assessment of Gilbert Melendez ahead of his title fight against "Smooth" this weekend (April 20, 2013) at UFC on FOX 7. Crouch believes "El Nino" isn't necessarily a world beater in one particular area of mixed martial arts (MMA), but, he is "pretty good" at everything. Couple that with his unrivaled will to win -- which Crouch believes is Gilbert's best attribute -- and that makes Melendez a tough draw for anyone, including Henderson. Though the former 155-pound Strikeforce champion hasn't necessarily received the reputation as a "knockout artist" or "submission specialist" over the course of his 11-year career, he has proven time and time again that he can put all of his skills together nicely to get the job done. Look no further than his seven straight wins which include six consecutive title defenses for proof. But, can "El Nino" put it all together one more time when he makes his highly-anticipated UFC debut against the top lightweight in the world?