Eddie Alvarez: "Gilbert [Melendez] has more belief in himself than his promoter does."
by Jason Benfari on March 09, 2011

"To be honest with you, I think in my heart, Gilbert [Melendez] wanted that fight to happen. I mess around and say, 'He knew his promoter wasn't going to let him fight me.' But the God's honest truth is Gilbert has more belief in himself than his promoter does. That's my take on it. Gilbert has all the belief in the world in himself. Does he think he can beat me? I don't know. I think he has ifs, but his promoter has more doubts or he would've made the fight a long time ago, like my promoter wanted to." -Eddie Alvarez via MMAFighting

Consensus top 5 lightweight Eddie Alvarez elaborates on a long talked about fight between himself and the world's other top lightweight not currently fighting in the UFC, Strikeforce's Gilbert Melendez. 

The fight was discussed at length earlier this year before Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker apparently pulled out of discussions choosing instead to match Melendez up with well regarded Japanese native Tatsuya Kawajiri. 

Melendez holds a unanimous decision win over Kawajiri when the two squared off back in 2006.

Unable to land a fight with Melendez, Alverez will face Pat Curran for the Bellator lightweight championship at Bellator 39 on April 2. 

 |  (30) Comments horizontalcracker: I really wanna see this fight =/ snuff: Coker is stupid. Melendez is overated. mike5k: I think over rated is an accurate description of Melendez but I wouldn't say Coker's stupid. I actually think Coker's smart for this. Why would be put his champion in a position where he's going to get destroyed? Where would that leave his lightweight division? More irrelevant than it already is, that's where. GO HARD: War Gilly!! flyangler: I think Melendez is overated. Alvarez would embarass him and Strikeforce, that 's what would happen. GO HARD: What is Overrated?? how is Gilly overrated? He is and has been the strikeforce lw champion for a while now and has beat worthy opponents. Is he top 5 in the UFC material? no. Is he better than Alverez? no , but Gilly isnt overrated. Alverez currently fights less compitition then Gilly. Alverez should either take his ass to strikeforce or take his ass to the ufc if he wants to fight better compitition. i dont care about UFC offering him a less then impressive contract.. U have to start out low and prove your worthy.... Alverez will not be mentiond among the best LWs when its all over, and its ashame. flyangler: Being ranked as high as 2 and low as 4 in five rankings I checked, would qualify Melendez as being WAY overrated. He has only fought 6 times since the beginning of 2008 with his tough fights against Aoki, Thompson (2x), and Ishida. Alvarez on the otherhand has fought 11 times in that span and has fought Huerta, Neer, Imada, Aoki, Kawajiri, Hansen and Amade. Gilbert doesn't fight enough or enough top opponents to be ranked in the top five. I would put him at 8-10 myself. The Hitman: I will cry if this fight happens. mike5k: Alvarez would love to be a big, popular name but being the best fighter he can be while doing what's best for his family is more important. The Aoki loss hurt him. If he can avenge that it could change his status. horizontalcracker: technically eddie has never beaten a top 10 fighter, just sayin, maybe 1 dana rarely parts with his money like he did with shields i do think eddie is top 5 and dana should pursue him, however with bellator i'm sure eddie has a lot more control over his schedule and fighting regularly, and shit, he's probably not going to lose in bellator
HOW WILL THE THIAGO ALVES VS. MARTIN KAMPMANN FIGHT END AT UFC ON FX 2?
Alves def. Kampmann via TKO/KO
Alves def. Kampmann via submission
Alves def. Kampmann via decision
Kampmann def. Alves via TKO/KO
Kampmann def. Alves via submission
Kampmann def. Alves via decision
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!