Gilbert Melendez has fought his way back to the top, but like all good things in life, it didn't come easy. The native of Santa Ana, California was driven by one thing since June of 2008: to become the undisputed Strikeforce lightweight champion once again. To say he had his work cut out for him is an understatement.

The comeback trail began in April of 2009 when Melendez faced Rodrigo Damm for the Strikeforce interim lightweight title. The former San Francisco State wrester stopped the Brazilian dead in his tracks with a KO at 2:02 of round two.

Up next was Mitsuhiro Ishida in August, a fighter Melendez had lost to almost nineteen months before. Determined to escape the fate of their first match-up, "El Nino" dominated the Japanese stand-out, stopping the contest at 3:56 of the third round by way of TKO due to punches.

The moment of truth was in December at Strikeforce Evolution where he would get his rematch with the man who originally took his title away -- Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thompson. In a sure-fire candidate for fight of the year, Melendez reached the pinnacle once again beating "the Punk" in a five round battle that kept fans on the edge of their seats all the way to the final bell.

With Thompson behind him for the foreseeable future, Melendez has successfully avenged both of his losses and now looks to face the best lightweights in the world, wherever they may be.

Tommy Kail of FiveKnuckles.com recently caught up with Gilbert to discuss where he's going, where's he's been, and the current state of the Strikeforce organization.

FiveKnuckles.com: Gilbert, you're fight with Josh [Thompson] at Strikeforce Evolution ended 2009 with a bang and was a well deserved candidate for "Fight of the Year." Now that you've had the chance to avenge both of your losses, what can you say about your performance looking back?

Gilbert Melendez: (Laughs) It's a relief that the whole thing is over. Josh Thompson is an amazing fighter. I'm never at a loss of positive things to say about him. The fight was definitely was a war and I put a lot of effort into the training camp leading up. I dedicated my life to regaining my title for a year and a half. That win validated many things for me. I've seen the fight a couple times and I don't think there's anybody out there who wouldn't say it was a great fight. I'm certainly very happy with the outcome, but now I'm ready to move on and tackle some bigger things.

FiveKnuckles.com: Was there a point at anytime in the fight where you may have been able to put Josh away?

Gilbert Melendez: I had my moments, but I was trying to be technical and smart. It was a five round fight so I was trying to take my opportunities as they came. I picked up the pressure when I saw an opening, but I hit him with a knee below the belt and poked him in the eye during some of my best chances to move forward. It wasn't intentional or anything, but those instances killed my momentum. There were a couple other times I wanted to go for it, but I didn't want to walk into a push kick or a big punch in the face. Besides that, Josh is a very...