Strikeforce Nashville: Gilbert Melendez Upsets Shinya Aoki With Perfect Strategic Peformance

Strikeforce lightweight champion “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (19-2) stunned Dream champion “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (19-5) in a strategic unanimous decision at Strikeforce: Nashville Saturday night by judges’ scores of 50-45 three times.  Fighters.com scored the fight for Melendez 49-46, giving Aoki round one.

The fight was repetitive and Melendez came into the fight with a perfect strategy.

Aoki circled outside as Melendez through straights to Aoki’s body.  Aoki shot for single-leg takedowns 18 times, all stuffed by Melendez.

In round one, Aoki was able to pull Melendez into his guard, but Melendez quickly stood out Aoki’s sweet spot.

But, by round two Melendez was more confident and dove into Aoki’s guard after stuffing the shots.  Aoki attempted to work wrist control, but Melendez stayed just out of reach of submissions while lunging forward with big right hands.

By the end of round two, Aoki’s nose was bloodied and his face swelling.

The cycle repeated throughout the fight, with Melendez landing more shots and Aoki looking less confident from his back.

In the final round, after Aoki shot, Melendez had the referee stand him immediately and winged big shots at Aoki’s head.  Melendez landed a big straight right before the final bell, leaving Aoki on his back as the fight ended.