Melendez: Everyone knows I busted Eddie Alvarez up

Gilbert Melendez entered the UFC with one of the best contracts the UFC ever offered. That set off a chain of events that is still being felt, but it included Team Cesar Gracie teammates Nick and Nate Diaz determined to get paid more.

But with great contract comes great opponents, and Melendez went just 1-3 in the UFC. He lost to Benson Henderson for the title in a split decision. Then he beat Diego Sanchez in the fight of the night. Then he lost to Anthony Pettis for the title. And then he lost to Eddie Alvarez, in a razor thin split decision.

And then he failed a PED test.

It did not look like a title shot might ever again come around. But then Eddie Alvarez won the title, and Melendez feels he was the better man when the pair fought.

“I really feel like that’s the fight gods talking to me,” said Melendez to Damon Martin for FOX Sports. “Sometimes you think it’s been a long road in this sport and maybe it’s time to cash in on some big paydays so we take a different road. But I feel like these are the fight gods talking to me ‘Gilbert, you beat Eddie, he’s the champ, beat this guy, you still have it, you can still do it’.

“These are the things I tell myself. These are the voices I hear and the feelings I get.”

“This is not an unfamiliar situation for me. I’ve been in this sport since 2003, top 10 in the world, fighting to fight the champion. I’m always one fight away from being in the No. 1 spot again or fighting for the title. What’s pretty crazy is that I am in this spot again. This is another chance for me to take advantage of an opportunity.”

“Everybody knows I busted up Eddie Alvarez, so it makes things interesting.”

Alvarez fights the ferocious Edson Barbosa in the main event of UFC on FOX 20 Saturday night at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Barbosa, 30, is coming off a dominant decision over Anthony Pettis.

“It’s one of those things like Nate is always saying — it’s one of those kill or be killed kind of fights. I am going to put the pressure on, and you roll the dice. You might eat a kick on the way in or you can break him.

“I’m looking to do that. That’s definitely obvious that my game plan is to try and break him.”

“I take a deep breath, bite down on my mouthpiece and go out there and do my thing. When I’m in that moment, it’s almost like an out of body experience. I excel in those moments, When I do get hit, I get pumped up. When a guy has a moment, it makes me want to go forward and not back down. I want to get to that moment so I can feel it and flip that switch.

“I want it to be like ‘wow’. I want the wow factor. I want them to say ‘that’s a new Gilbert Melendez, a better Gilbert Melendez, a Gilbert Melendez with perfect execution’. That’s what I want at the end of this fight.”