FiveKnuckles.com: Well, all of your effort isn't going unnoticed, that's for sure. Now, you and Josh [Thompson] both said in the post fight presser that you guys don't get the respect you deserve in the lightweight rankings. Do you think that fight put a lot of your detractors to rest?

Gilbert Melendez: That's just the way it is with a lot of Strikeforce fighters right now. It's seems like if we're not in the UFC or Dream, then we don't count. I definitely feel like we should get more respect now as a result of that fight. In the past, Josh certainly hasn't gotten the respect that he deserves. Lack of respect is something nobody wants to deal with as a fighter, but things are looking up. Now that we have this co-promotion going on, we just might be able to prove that maybe we're the organization fans should be watching.

FiveKnuckles.com: That fight was one of the best I've seen in a while and it's only natural that fight fans want to see Melendez/Thompson III. I have to ask you, when do you think that fight will go down in your honest opinion?

Gilbert Melendez: That third fight will be later on down the road. I think if we both go out and beat up a bunch of other good fighters and get our rankings up, it'll be that much better to see us fight again. In the meantime, we need to keep making our way up the rankings and we need to keep earning respect.

FiveKnuckles.com: Fair enough. That's completely understandable and I'll leave it at that. In moving on, what do you think Strikeforce needs to do to get the respect the entire organization is out to get?

Gilbert Melendez: I think marketing the fighters more instead of focusing on the organization is where Strikeforce can start. Strikeforce can certainly do a better job marketing guys like Josh and I who always come in prepared. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but we should've been the main event of that card. We should've been on the billboards, especially in our own city, and we should've had a special on our fight like the 24/7 deal they do for everyone else. You can't tell me people wouldn't be interested in our story going into that fight, especially in our hometown. I believe we're passionate enough about what we do and we're good enough for television. The organization is banking on Cung Le, who is great fighter, but they're not looking into the future by doing that. Honestly, not everyone out there was surprised to see him lose. The truth was going to come out eventually. Cung is not a top ten fighter and he's not always prepared.

Now, don't get me wrong because Strikeforce has been putting on good shows, but at the end of the night, the fans say "damn, that was a good show", but they don't even remember who fought. People leave the events saying "who the hell are these guys?" when they should be saying, "I paid my money to see so-and-so fight tonight, or I was there when Scott Smith beat Cung Le."

Now, that does happen to a certain extent and my complaints...