Alvarez: GIl is like the HS cheerleader trying to …
UFC lightweight Eddie Alvarez says Gil Melendez is like “the high school cheerleader always trying to $@&% off the quarterback.”
UFC lightweight Eddie Alvarez had to pull out of a fight with Benson Henderson last month, as his newborn daughter experienced complications at birth. The family had moved from Philadelphia to Boca Raton, Florida, to be closer to the Blackzilian training facility. Now they are moving back to Philadelphia for the the superior medical care. Alvarez will continue to do his training camps at with the Blackzilians.
And the next fight he wants to train there for is against Gilbert Melendez.
Alvarez doesn’t like Melendez. Thus it has ever been since Alvarez was the Bellator champion and Melendez was the StrikeForce champion, and a cross promotional fight between the two was proposed. That idea died out, but the enmity didn’t.
Alvarez appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour and likened Gil to “the high school cheerleader always trying to s— off the quarterback.”
“If he’s not making headlines, he’ll say he wants to fight the guy who is,” said Alvarez as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “He always would talk about me. I just lost, but when I was on a streak and doing well, whenever I would do well, right away, well Gilbert wants to fight me. I didn’t do so well? ‘Oh, I think he lost a step. I don’t want to fight him right now.’ I don’t know. I don’t know about this guy.”
“I beat this guy every time out. With everything in me. I don’t know how he feels about his fight skills, but the things that he’s good at — his style — I’m better at. I hit harder, I’m stronger, I feel like I’m faster. I just really want to hit this guy. I’m excited about it.”
“I just think it’s been too long. It’s been too long, it’s been too controversial and I don’t know what this guy is gonna do. He was trying to go to Bellator.”
“My word is as good as gold. I’m good with the fight.”
Melendez too was on The MMA Hour recently, and is good to go.
“I don’t really care much about him, but I do respect him as a fighter,” said Melendez. “I’d like to share the Octagon with him finally.”.
Both fighters are coming off of losses, Alvarez to Donald Cerrone at UFC 178, and Melendez to Anthony Pettis at UFC 181. Gil is 23-4, Eddie is 24-4. If ever there was a fight that was natural, this is it.