Well this worked out well, didn’t it? A few weeks after Gilbert Melendez was told to go find another offer, and things looked horribly out of sync with the UFC, they come back, matched Bellator’s offer and now Gilbert will be coaching opposite Anthony Pettis on TUF 20 which begins filming in May.
Yes, flyweight women will be coached by Gil and Pettis. Fascinating. I’m thrilled. I can’t write enough words to express how happy I am. Yes, the idea of Gil fighting Eddie Alvarez finally, or Michael Chandler was fun, and would’ve been great, but Gil belongs in the UFC and challenging for the title.
When it comes down to it, this is just good for the sport. Did the UFC finally cave to all their negative press? Who knows and at this point, who cares? Gilbert and Pettis is going down likely this summer, and I can’t wait.
MMAJunkie spoke to Gilbert:
“It was on a conference call and I had to put them on mute,” Melendez said. “I was just smiling and yelling and dancing around like a little girl. I was just really excited.”
“It’s a tough thing to do, but I never wanted to walk away,” Melendez said. “I never wanted to leave the UFC. It’s the best organization in the world, has the best fighters in the world, it’s where I wanted to be, but I had to put that aside to think about my family and my future. …I had to weigh it out and I had to explore my options. I got to a point where I had a good plan for my future, and I just had to hope that the UFC would come along with me so I could get to that point and still be with them.”
