Melendez is hardly overrated

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Rod Mar for ESPN.comGilbert Melendez, right, is never going to have an easy outing with Josh Thomson.

Here's a news flash: Based on any cogent argument, Melendez wasn't No. 1 in the world coming into the fight. (There's a wide gulf between being the best and having the potential to be. Until further notice, Melendez operates in the latter realm, and some people need to realize that. They really do.)

Want another "hot off the presses" item? When Melendez and Thomson fight, they can't help but produce nail-biters. Fifteen rounds between the two totaling 75 minutes in the cage should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Melendez and Thomson are made for one another. They are pieces of a fistic puzzle that fit perfectly together, which in turn doesn't have to mean Melendez is considerably worse than guys like me make him out to be.

Oh, and Thomson's not too shabby either.

Reaction to the five-round title fight, if you hadn't guessed, bothered me.

Blah. What nonsense.

All the talk was driving me nuts, then I was reminded of what I wrote last week after Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier combined for an awesome featherweight contest, the one that delivered a smell-the-roses moment. I suggested the next time someone or something in MMA makes you want to slam your head against a wall, envision Jung-Poirier and everything will be better.

Well, I needed to try after Saturday's reaction to Melendez -- that's how bad things got. Call it the Zombie Mantra, if you like. It helped.

After some deliberation, I came to this conclusion: All you people out there aiming to relegate Melendez to a lower class of fighter than he belongs, shoo. Go away. You hear me? Stop with the negativity about a guy who's 21-2. It's ridiculous.

Anyhow, enough of that. Here's how fighters from Strikeforce and Bellator fared over the weekend.

Strikeforce GP/Bellator 69 grades

		Rafael Cavalcante Rafael Cavalcante, the 31-year-old former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, demolished Mike Kyle (19-9), earning a distinct measure of revenge in only 33 seconds. "Feijao" (12-3) attacked from the bell, cracking Kyle with an overhand right followed by a knee to the face. He didn't stop until Kyle, 32, tapped to a topside guillotine choke. The win sets up a fight between Cavalcante and Gegard Mousasi. When he's ready to fight, Cavalcante is not to be trifled with.
		Daniel Cormier Daniel Cormier (10-0) has all the makings of a wonderful sports story. The two-time Olympian, less than three years into his pro fighting career, handled one of the most experienced and dangerous heavyweights in the sport, shutting out Josh Barnett with relative ease. He displayed facets of his game we hadn't had the pleasure of seeing yet, suggesting the short but not-so-undersized 33-year-old will be a serious threat in the division moving forward. Timing, spacing and technique were all in his favor. Oh, and Cormier fought through a broken hand that needs surgery; not that one would have known based on his effort over 25 minutes. A superlative performance.
		Josh Barnett Rare is the fight in which Josh Barnett (31-6) gets manhandled, but that's how it went down against Cormier. The 34-year-old former UFC champion also busted up his left hand in the first round, but unlike the man who beat him on points, he couldn't muster much offense to compensate. Barnett finds himself in a tenuous position. No one can say for certain whether he'll sign a contract to fight for the UFC. It would be a shame if that didn't happen, but based on his history and relationship with Zuffa, a snub shouldn't shock anyone. As it is, he remains a viable heavyweight competitor, but time is not on his side.
		Gilbert Melendez In the rubber match, Gilbert Melendez (21-2) fell smack-dab in the middle of his previous two goes against Thomson. Chalk it up to familiarity or a bad back (Melendez's trainer Cesar Gracie mentioned it on Twitter), or maybe just allow Thomson the respect he deserves. Either way, this was not, as mentioned above, some hallmark moment in the Strikeforce champion's career. And by that I mean he wasn't exposed as some wannabe contender. If you want to believe that he can't be great unless he's in the UFC, then so be it. That kind of thinking is myopic and, as far as I'm concerned, disproved by results. Melendez, 30, could walk into the Octagon against any UFC-signed 155-pounder and be, at a minimum, competitive.
		Josh Thomson There are many compelling fights for Josh Thomson (19-5) if he can get them -- unfortunately none are in Strikeforce so, like Melendez, a very good fighter is relegated to twiddling his thumbs. Or they can just fight again. (Kidding.) Rumors swirled that Thomson was injured before the third fight with Melendez. He said he wasn't. It looked like he wasn't. Instead, the 33-year-old gained strength as the fight unfolded. His best round was the fourth, which was unquestionably the most lopsided period of the contest, yet it wasn't enough in the eyes of the judges to award a 10-8. I scored the bout a draw and just for the heck of it, under a half-point system, I tallied Thomson ahead 48-47.5. The closeness of the contest notwithstanding, Thomson is too often overlooked, and that's unfortunate.
		Maiquel Falcao Brazilian slugger Maquiel Falcao looked more like a top-shelf wrestler than a brawler during his Bellator middleweight tournament final against Andreas Spang (8-2). It was a smart, win-centric game plan from a fighter not necessarily known for such things, especially in the wake of a heated exchange with Spang last month. Falcao (31-4) was tabbed as the tournament favorite coming in and he delivered. With Hector Lombard abdicating his crown, Falcao, 31, gets Russian Alexander Shlemenko sometime later this year for the vacant promotional title at 185 pounds.
		Karl Amoussou Karl Amoussou went for an early finish but could not find one. Rather, the 26- year-old French striker was forced to go the distance against David Rickels (10-1). Amoussou brought his grappling chops into the fight, which allowed him to maintain enough top control over 15 minutes to score a points lead on two of the three judges' cards. With the win, Amoussou (15-4) advances to face Brian Baker for the Bellator welterweight tournament title. He's aggressive and dangerous but still has a long way to go before it all comes together.

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Josh Gross

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• MMA columnist for ESPN.com
• Nearly 11 years covering MMA
• Hosts "Gross Point Blank" podcast