Before Gilbert Melendez successfully defended his title against Jorge Masvidal this past Saturday there was speculation that Melendez would be transferred to the UFC with a potential title shot against Frankie Edgar. Unfortunately, it turns out that Melendez will stay where he is for now and will leave it up to Strikeforce to get him good fights. Nevertheless, the fight fan in me could not help but wonder what would happened if these fighters clashed as there is still a possibility that Melendez will fight Frankie Edgar in the future. Let’s look at my analysis broken down in three categories:
Pace/Speed
If you watched the Strikeforce: Melendez vs Masvidal event then you might have noticed that Melendez wasn’t moving like he normally does. This was because he had injured his foot, so that fight would be a bad comparison. But either way, if you take any of Gilbert’s fights and compared them to any of Frankie’s, “The Answer” has “El Niño” beat each and every time. Edgar’s head movement and rapid foot positioning is just unmatched by any fighter in his division. Frankie can keep up a supersonic pace all five rounds, his agility and speed is just insane. Can you say the same about Gilbert Melendez? No.
Technique/Wrestling
In a nutshell, Frankie’s clean strikes make Gilbert’s look sloppy. He also mixes things up more nicely than Gilbert and transitions from striking to takedowns very quickly and fluidly. Gilbert may be stronger but Frankie is quicker, and this plays a big part when it comes to wrestling. I give the wrestling advantage to Frankie for his superior speed and NCAA Division I wrestling background. As far as submissions, they both are BJJ brown belts and train with the Gracies. But as Frankie has more submission wins and moves around so well in the guard, I give him the advantage.
Competition/Challenges
You just can’t deny that recently, Frankie Edgar has had harder competition fighting in the UFC than Gilbert Melendez has had fighting in Strikeforce. Edgar fought Gray Maynard in his last two fights this year and fought BJ Penn two times before that in 2010. Frankie’s higher level of competition has helped make him into the fighter he is today. Frankie has been truly tested time and time again and has prevailed when having to stand in very harsh storms. I don’t think Strikeforce will ever truly challenge Melendez the way Frankie get challenged, that’s another reason he will always be behind Frankie Edgar in my book.
