411's Strikeforce on NBC Report 04.19.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.23.2008
Gilbert Melendez is the featured star and we get to see his Strikeforce Lightweight Title fight against Clay "The Carpenter" Guida on the second edition of Strikeforce on NBC!!
411's Strikeforce on NBC Report
Firstly, I will apologize for this report being just a TAD late, but my NBC affiliate here actually shows the UFC Wired show during the timeslot that Strikeforce is supposed to be on, so I end up being at the mercy of whoever decides to post it somewhere or trying to piece it together on the NBC website, which can be less than fun. However, I've found that the Universal HD channel, which shows some NBC programming and movies in HD, has begun showing the Strikeforce show, which will hopefully allow me to be a little more timely with the reports. Now that the explanation is out of the way it's on the the second episode of Strikeforce on NBC!
Segment One
The show opens this week with a video package outlining what we'll see on the show, including the classic fight between Gilbert Melendez and Clay Guida for the Strikeforce Lightweight Title. Lon McEachern and Ken Shamrock are the commentators again and Lon welcomes us to the show, hyping up the title fight before throwing things to a profile piece on Gilbert Melendez.
Highlights of Melendez laying beatings on his opponents are interspersed with him talking about how his nickname came from Japan, when the Japanese fans said that he was taking the sport by storm. He says that he eats, sleeps, dreams and breathes fighting and that he wants to be the number-one fighter in the world. He loves to use all of his skills to push his opponents and punish them and he loves punching people. He says that he's cool outside of the cage but that inside the cage a switch flips and he turns into an animal. Melendez says that win or lose, when he steps into the cage it's all him and that it's up to him how well he's trained and how well he's prepared and that you might be able to beat him at other sports, but he'll beat you up.
Match One: Strikeforce Lightweight Championship
Gilbert Melendez (11-0) vs. Clay Guida (c) (18-2)
We get highlights from rounds one and two, considering that this is a five round title fight and round one has Melendez getting a big takedown and some good stand-up before grounding and pounding Guida. From round two's highlights Guida has Melendez's back but gets slammed and there's more of Melendez picking Guida apart on the feet. After the break we will get to see the rest of the fight in its entirety.
Segment Two
Round Three
Guida tries a spinning back fist that misses and he eats a combination of punches from Melendez for the effort. Another left hook and a jab lands for Melendez and he shoots in for a takedown but Guida is able to sprawl out of it before Melendez finally manages to get the takedown. Melendez on top and in the full guard and he is dropping some hard punches before backing out of the guard and falling back into it. Nate Diaz outside the cage in Melendez's corner and the inaction on the ground leads the fight to be stood back up. Guida takes another hard left hand but counters back with a left of his own. Guida ducks under a huge combination to try for a shot but ends up standing up to eat another combination. DEEP single-leg attempt by Guida and he takes Melendez's back standing up, landing knees to the thighs as Melendez turns into it and they separate. Ken Shamrock talks about how points should be deducted for fence grabs and that there should be one warning and then a point deduction, especially in a fight this close because it's negating Guida's opportunity to end the fight by putting Melendez to the mat. I'm just as shocked as you are that Shamrock was able to make a salient point after all the beatings he's sustained, but there it is. Stiff jab from Melendez and Guida cocks a right hand but doesn't throw it. Guida ducks another combination and shoots in for a takedown but Melendez sprawls out of it really well and keeps the fight on its feet. Guida takes the back standing again but has to give it up and eats another hard combination of punches. BIG uppercut glances off of Guida's face and he gets knocked down with a short right hook but recovers to take Melendez down and throws a couple of punches of his own at the horn.
Round Analysis: Guida had a flash at the end, but this round was seemingly all Melendez as he had the better of the stand-up and completely stuffed almost all of Guida's takedown attempts. Guida really needs to let his hands go and start landing combinations of his own to help set up his takedown attempts and disguise them a little bit.
Segment Three
Round Four
The bell rings for round four and Melendez continues to stalk Guida down and throw combinations, landing a lot of solid punches. They slow to circle and Melendez backs Guida up against the fence, landing a couple of stiff jabs before following it up with a good right hook. Spinning back fist misses again from Guida and he eats a huge overhand right out of that before getting pushed into the corner for another punishing combination from Melendez. Flying knee attempt and a push kick misses from Guida and Melendez lands a HARD uppercut to the chin to back Guida off. Another HARD overhand right lands for Melendez and he stuffs another Guida takedown attempt with little effort. Leg kick and a body kick land for Guida and the pace slows a litle bit with Melendez landing a jab and another combination. Guida finally gets the takedown but Melendez just pops right back up to his feet and they're back to circling in the middle of the cage. Another shot and another missed takedown for Guida and Shamrock throws out another good piece of technical advice, saying that Melendez is in a boxer's stance and that Guida should be throwing leg kicks while Melendez is throwing the jab because all of his weight is on the lead leg and the kicks will be more punishing then. McEachern earns a bonus point too by talking about how that is generally seen in Muay Thai fighting, reminding me that he has an extensive combat sports background. Leg kick lands for Guida but Melendez hits a HARD jab that stops him in his tracks. Guida shoots but Melendez just steps away from it and they're back to their feet. Guida shoots for a deep single-leg and Melendez sprawls again, allowing Guida to take his back standing but Melendez again turns into it as McEachern points out another fence grab from Melendez and Shamrock sounds exasperated that points aren't being taken for the violations. Melendez misses a big right hand as the round finishes.
Round Analysis: Another big round for Melendez as he picks apart Guida on the feet and keeps the fight where he wants it by negating every single one of Guida's takedown attempts, either with the sprawl or by popping back to his feet. If Guida doesn't get a KO or submission in the fifth, this is Melendez's fight, plain and simple.
Segment Four
Round Five
Fifth and final round of this Strikeforce Lightweight Title bout and they touch gloves before Melendez goes right back to landing a ton of punishing shots. Left hook from Guida lands and he gets a takedown on Melendez, moving to take Melendez's back, but he loses it and the fight just ends up right back on its feet. One-two from Melendez lands and Guida shoots for a deep double-leg but can't get Melendez all the way down to the mat as Melendez scrambles back to his feet, taking a hard knee from Guida while in the double underhooks. Melendez pushes away and they're back to the center with Melendez JUST missing a big uppercut. More punches are traded with Melendez getting the better of all of it and continuing to land that hard jab. Another shot from Guida and another sprawl from Melendez as he avoids the takedown, but Guida gets a solid knee to the head while pressing Melendez against the fence. Guida takes the back standing again, dragging Melendez down to the mat but Melendez fights to his feet and picks up Guida to slam him to the mat. Guida rolls out and they're both back to their feet and circling in the middle of the cage. Melendez with a hard body shot and he sprawls out of another takedown attempt, switching it to put Guida to the mat. HARD right hook lands and Guida immediately shoots for the takedown but can't get it. They end up clinched up on the fence with Guida trying desperately for a kimura but Melendez just takes him down to the mat. Guida reverses to get on top and grounds and pounds through the final secons of the round but it's too little, too late.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: A dominating performance from Melendez and he deserved the unanimous decision and the title. He did everything right and it was a perfect fight for him against Guida. There was no way that Guida was going to be able to keep up the pace if the fight was on its feet and Melendez knew that, using his sprawl and doing everything necessary to get the fight to stay where he wanted it. Tons of heart from Guida, but Melendez was just too talented in all aspects of the game for him to do anything to keep his title.
The Final Strike
A really good fight and a lot of good commentary and thoughts from both Shamrock and McEachern lead to a second straight good show from Strikeforce. I'm not a big fan of them cutting rounds out of the fight but I can understand why they had to do it with a half-hour show, and they did well to show some highlights so we weren't completely in the dark as to what happened before the third round. On the whole it looks like Strikeforce is really benefitting from this deal and if they could get this show on at a little earlier time slot, it could do them a world of good as the production is top-notch and the fights are exciting enough to draw in plenty of new fans.
