Gilbert Melendez (born April 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist of Mexican descent. Currently fighting out of San Francisco, California, he formerly competed in the lightweight division of PRIDE Fighting Championships and now competes in Strikeforce. He has trained extensively with Turbo Fairtex, Jake Shields, Cesar Gracie, Nick Diaz, and David Terrell. Melendez is the Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and has avenged both his career losses. Melendez is ranked as the #2 by Sherdog and as the #1 lightweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly and FightMagazine.com. Melendez is also ranked as the #8 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog, and #9 by Yahoo Sports. Melendez holds notable wins over Shinya Aoki, Clay Guida, Josh Thomson, Mitsuhiro Ishida and Tatsuya Kawajiri.
