Strikeforce on NBC 4/20 TV Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 4/20/08


Lon McEachern hypes up a title fight as Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Clay Guida fights undefeated Gilbert Melendez. They show a Gilbert Melendez hype video.

Lightweight Title Match: Clay Guida © vs. Gilbert Melendez

First two Rounds are shown in highlights. Ken Shamrock is on color commentary again. Melendez shown to have controlled the first two rounds in the highlights.

R3- Guida grabs a clinch but can’t hold it and Melendez throws some nice punches and takes Guida down and is in his guard. Guida is against the cage. Guida tries to grab a submission but is denied. The ref stands them up. Melendez is jabbing and keeping Guida away. Melendez dominating Guida in the corner but Guida lunges at Melendez and grabs a leg. Guida’s got his back standing up and trying to take him down. They separate but they get back to the same position. Guida jumps on Melendez’s back but is pushed off and Gilbert gets some shots in. Melendez lands a right hand and Guida goes down and Melendez hits a couple more shots as the round comes to a close. Round 3 definitely goes to Melendez. Guida showed some life but couldn’t really sustain anything or inflict any damage.

R4- They are throwing pretty good to start the round. Melendez dives in but the takedown is stopped. Guida tries a spinning back fist but instead eats a right hand. Shamrock says that he’s got Melendez so far winning this fight and Guida needs to really start pressing the issue. Melendez is controlling the fight on their feet right now. Guida dives in but is denied. Guida dives in again and gets a takedown but Gilbert quickly gets to his feet. Guida again gets stuffed. Melendez just really controlling the fight and Guida dives and gets a single leg and Guida has him up against the cage and is trying to get his back but they separate again. R4 definitely goes to Melendez again as he controlled this round.

R5- Guida gets a takedown early in R5 and takes Gilbert’s back but Gilbert gets back to his feet and moves Guida off him and now they are standing toe to toe again with Melendez in the dominant stance. Guida dives in and grabs a leg. But again they separate with little damage done. Melendez throwing some haymakers but not hitting. He is however hitting with jabs. Guida dives in again but Melendez sprawls to avoid takedown. Guida’s got him up against the cage trying to get an advantage. Guida’s got him on the mat now but Melendez picks him up and slams him now and he’s in Guida’s guard now. They are back on their feet now with a minute and a half left. Guida dives in again and slams him against the cage but Melendez flips him over and now they are on their feet again. Melendez hitting some punches. Guida tries for a knee. Guida going after an arm. They are fighting on the ground with 10 seconds left and it’s over.

Overall, Melendez just controlled this match. He did everything but put Guida away. Melendez showed a great ring aptitude in that he controlled the fight and cage control and denied Guida’s takedowns and when Guida did get a takedown Melendez was quickly able to turn the tables on him.

Only one fight this week but it was a good one to introduce one of Strikeforce’s main guys and arguably one of the top p4p fighters in the world right now Gilbert Melendez as he was shown here beating a popular (although not a top) UFC fighter in Clay Guida.