Gilbert Melendez wants to pull out his beast for Josh Thomson on April 11

Props: MMAWeekly

Quoteworthy:

“I want to make things really clear – I’ve only got one friend in the 155-pound weight division, and that’s Nathan Diaz. Josh is a training partner. Yeah, if I win this fight, and he never wants to fight me again, we can (train together). If I lose this fight, I’m not going to be very happy and I’m going to want to fight him again. It’s just awkward, because he’s a good guy and I respect him, but at the end of the day, I can’t be making friends with 155-pounders. Maybe some guys can hug and be friends – it’s just not in my nature to do that and go fight a guy like that. I’ve gotta get some aggression towards him and want to hate him. It’s nothing personal, but that’s just how you’ve gotta to be. At least I have to be, to pull out the beast.”

Top-ranked lightweight and former Strikeforce 155-pound champion Gilbert Melendez draws a line in the lightweight sand in preparation for his rematch with Josh Thomson at the upcoming Strikeforce event on April 11. “El Nino” has not seen action since losing his title in a decisive unanimous decision to “The Punk” last June. The loss was only the second of his sparkling 16-fight career, which includes notable wins over Hiroyuki Takaya, Clay Guida, Tatsuya Kawajiri and others.

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