Thomson’s nickname is ‘The Punk’ but he’s anything but, as he’s done some public service announcement work lately against the barbaric abuse of dogs in dogfighting. He, along with some of the other Strikeforce fighters including Cung Le, has also done some educational programs for ‘at-risk’ kids basically teaching them that real men don’t abuse animals. If that makes him a ‘punk’ we could use a lot more of them…Thomson’s only two losses are to some *serious* top notch opposition in Yves Edwards and Clay Guida. Thomson has been talking about how after his shoulder surgery last year that he’s not sure he’ll ‘ever be 100% again’. Rutten concludes that this is likely a head game as otherwise he wouldn’t take the fight, or at least not let his opponent know about this fact. Melendez enters the ring next and gets a really nice pop from the crowd. Only career loss for Melendez is to Mitsuhiro Ishida by unanimous decision on last New Years Eve’s Yarrenoka card in Tokyo. His most impressive wins are likely against the aforementioned Clay Guida and against Tatsuya Kawajiri in PRIDE.

Thomson introduced first and he gets boos from the crowd despite being an SJ local. Melendez is up there with Aoki and BJ Penn as the best lightweights in the world. Herb Dean will keep things clean in this match and we’re ready to fight…

ROUND ONE:

Fighters touch gloves and circle in the middle. Melendez throws the jab, Thomson responds with a low kick. Overhand right just misses. Nice overhand right by the champ. Melendez bulls Thomson against the cage and uses a big knee to get away. Thomson goes for the single leg and gets the takedown. Melendez similar to Clay Guida in that they’re blessed with a seemingly endless amount of energy and insane conditioning. Thomson doing well on the ground so far, and Rutten wonders what he’s smiling about. He’s been smiling since the start of the fight. Rice brings up the old line about it ‘taking fewer muscles to smile than to frown’. Rutten counters that while it may only take 32 muscles to smile it only takes one to extend your arm and make you tap out. After some inactivity on the ground Melendez spins around and reverses so he’s now got ‘The Punk’ up against the cage. Fighters will move back to the middle and circle each other. Melendez working his jab but at the moment seems more content to wait out the round. Overhand right by Melendez just misses. Thomson misses with a big high kick. The challenger wins the first round 10-9.

ROUND TWO:

Melendez’s corner seems somewhat concerned but not panicked. Melendez threw significantly more strikes in the first, but Thomson doubled him up on strikes landed. He also had a takedown giving him a clear victory in the first. Melendez trying to cut off the angles and working his jab nicely. Thomson with a nice body kick, Melendez grabs it and tries for a takedown with nothing coming of it. Thomson lands a knee to the head and Melendez definitely felt that. Back to the middle now with the champ methodically circling Thomson looking for a ‘plan b’. Nice body kick by Thomson and another. His left kick has been his best weapon in round two. Thomson’s handspeed looks better, his kicks are better. Now Melendez swinging recklessly, Thomson counters with a knee. Thomson outworking Melendez which is something you just don’t see. Rice brings up the ruse about Thomson’s claims of not being 100%. Another kick to the body scores for Thomson and he just misses with a spinning back kick. Thomson has landed 27 strikes so far in R2 compared to 13 for Melendez. Melendez could be hoping that he’s the better conditioned fighter and that Thomson will get fatigued but no signs of that so far. Round ticks down and Thomson’s round again punctuated by a takedown right before the horn. 10-9 Thomson, he leads in the fight 20-18.

ROUND THREE:

Rice reminds us that Melendez was a -350 favorite coming in. He then reminds us of the champ’s phenomenal conditioning. Fighters exchanging wild strikes in the first minute of round one. Just noticed Thomson’s ‘Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor’ sponsors logo on his shorts. Rice now pointing out that Thomson has thrown a ton of punches relative to his average and that he could be at risk for punching himself out. Thomson slips and goes to a knee but is up before any harm comes of it. Much slower pace by Thomson–he could be pacing himself or maybe Melendez’s superior conditioning will carry the day. Melendez doing better with his strikes so far, but hasn’t really hurt ‘The Punk’ with anything. Thomson with a solid kick and now he’s going to swing with Melendez. Melendez looking to press the pace with his striking, but Thomson has an answer for everything. A half minute left in the round now and Thomson gets the takedown and briefly takes the champ’s back. Tougher round to score–better pace by Melendez, Thomson responded to everything in kind. We’ll call it a *slight* edge to Melendez with the caveat that it could easily go the other way. SavSci gives round 3 to Melendez 10-9, Thomson leads in the fight 29-28.

ROUND FOUR:

In theory, the longer the fight goes on the more it favors Melendez. The champ opens up the round with a nice four punch combination against the cage. Thomson covers up nicely though so it may be a case where it looked better than it really was. Thomson with a nice kick. Pace is slowed considerably, but Thomson is counterpunching well. Nice middle kick by Thomson partially blocked. Melendez looks frustrated and not quite sure how to adjust his tactics. Low kick by Thomson. Thomson backing up but Melendez not doing any damage. Thomson scores with a right, he’s using his low kick to keep the spacing to his liking. Brief exchange favors Thomson. Thomson shoots in and gets another takedown. A minute left in the fourth round and Melendez’s back against the wall now. Thomson tries for the back again but Melendez ducks out of it. Now he tries it again and he’s got his hooks in with :20 seconds left. Not sure he’s got the hands placed correctly and he’ll have to give it up. Nice display of sportsmanship as the two fighters exchange high fives as they head to their corners. Melendez could realistically be behind 40-36. Thomson gets round four on our card, and we’ve got him ahead 39-37.

ROUND FIVE:

Melendez will almost certainly be swinging for the fences here. CompuStrike numbers show a complete domination by the challenger. Wild overhand right by the champ misses. Rutten speculates that ‘they put a bionic arm in’ when he had his shoulder surgery. Based on his performance tonight it sure looks like it. Double leg takedown by Thomson who’s going for Melendez’s back again. Thomson’s fighting like Sean Sherk with better striking skills, just taking Melendez down at will. 3 minutes left and Melendez has to let has hands go or he’ll be a former champ. Nice combination by Melendez. Melendez chasing Thomson around the ring now throwing wild punches as Thomson takes him down again. Thomson fighting the fight that Sherk *should* have fought against BJ Penn, keeping Melendez off balance with a mixture of takedowns and strikes. Thomson using his low kick like a jab keeping his opponent off of him. Melendez opening up with punches, Thomson responds with a knee. One minute left and Sherk..er…Thomson takes Melendez down like he’s a rag doll. Both fighters exhausted now, Thomson looks to be the fresher fighter which is a surprise to everyone watching including those of us here at SavSci World HQ in Portland, OR. 10 seconds left and the two fighters give each other a hug. Thomson has a bloody nose from one of Melendez’s wild swings. Thomson’s round 10-9, we’ve got him 49-46 on the SavSci card and he very well could have won the round we gave to Melendez. Just a dominant performance by the challenger–if he doesn’t win by unanimous decision it’ll be the biggest robbery since Roy Jones Jr. in the Olympics. We’ll wait for the decision. CompuStrike dominance by Thomson is unreal…Jimmy Lennon Jr. has the decision….

All three judges score it 50-45 for the winner and NEW Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh ‘The Punk’ Thomson.

JOSH THOMSON WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

Absolutely flawless fight by Thomson, showing an amazingly well rounded game. Thomson gives props to Melendez, saying he’s the ‘toughest M.F. that he’s ever fought’. Thomson credits his trainers, and his sponsors as he ends his speech. Adds the funny line at the end “All the Cung Le fighters who fought tonight get back in gym. I’ll be there Tuesday, we got sh*t to work on”. Thomson acts nothing like his ‘punk’ nickname tonight, with a dominant performance and a classy yet funny postfight. The guy’s got talent and personality to spare and could be on the fast track to superstardom with tonight’s victory.

That’s it for tonight–thanks as always for joining us for our live round by round coverage…