Gilbert Melendez to Eddie Alvarez: 'It's put up or shut up time'
The genesis of the rivalry between UFC 188 co-main event fighters Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez actually stretches as far back at 2007 when they first crossed paths in a small promotion running a show in Costa Rica.
At the time, Alvarez was fighting at welterweight and the champion of the promotion and it just so happened that Melendez's teammate and best friend Jake Shields was also competing at 170 pounds under the same organizational banner.
Melendez watched him win that night, but Alvarez really didn't pop on the radar as an opponent until a year later when he dropped down to lightweight and appeared in a different promotion. Once Alvarez was fighting for an organization that was already working with Melendez's employers he saw it as an opportunity for the two of them to face off and he quickly made the suggestion to his boss.
"The first time I saw Eddie scrap was in Bodog Fights in Costa Rica when Jake (Shields) was down there and he was fighting at 170 and I think he was the champ at the time before he lost to Nick 'The Goat' Thompson. I saw him fight and I was like 'this dude is a banger'," Melendez said when speaking to FOX Sports. "He eventually went to 155 and the moment he got on my radar was when I thought (us fighting) was a real possibility was when he was with Pro Elite, who he was fighting for at the time, had a joint promotion with Strikeforce.
"So I said to (Scott) Coker 'why don't we have a co-promotion with me and Eddie Alvarez?'. So that's the first time he was really on my radar."
The fight with Alvarez never happened, but a few years later the two lightweights got attached together again when the idea of co-promotion was suggested while Melendez was the reigning and defending champion for Strikeforce.
At the time, Alvarez was the champion in Bellator Fighting Championships and his promoter started talking about putting the two of them together in a fight to signify a linear lightweight champion outside of the UFC.
Once again, Melendez was on board but he quickly found out that promotional politics outweigh any one fighter's desire to make a matchup happen.
"That did get interesting for a minute. They were saying 'our champ will beat your champ' and it was a play by Bjorn (Rebney) from Bellator to try and challenge it and do some kind of power play with Strikeforce," Melendez said. "I was up for it and I'm sure Eddie was, too, but at that point it comes down to the bosses.
"When I first thought it was a possibility, I was ready for it but then you learn that you don't make those decisions. The bosses do."
Once again, Melendez and Alvarez passed each other while running parallel lines in different promotions, but eventually both their names ended up in the hat to fight for the UFC.
Melendez joined the promotion after Zuffa (parent company to the UFC) purchased Strikeforce and consolidated the rosters. Alvarez was closing in on free agency from Bellator and signed a deal with the UFC, but ended up embroiled in a contract dispute for several months after his previous employers opted to match the offer sheet to try and keep him.
So Alvarez ended up back in Bellator while Melendez came to the UFC and immediately found himself in title contention before eventually being chosen to coach a season of "The Ultimate Fighter" as well. Melendez believes that singular moment is the reason why Alvarez harbors so much ill will towards him today.
"I think he thought he was going to get the title shot. It turned out he doesn't really understand a contract and what a matching clause is and Bjorn matched and there goes his contract and UFC deal where he thought he was going to immediately get to fight for a title and the big payday and all of a sudden I get it," Melendez said. "It's just timing and for some reason our timing has always been off, but here we are again and we're finally going to fight."
Melendez believes jealousy is the heart of Alvarez's issue with him because he was able to flourish under his new deal with the UFC while his opponent at UFC 188 was stuck fighting in another promotion and didn't finally get a chance to compete in the Octagon until September 2014.
"Absolutely, I do sometimes feel that way," Melendez said. "I think that's the only reason he's really salty towards me. We've kind been on the same timeline for these things. We were both up for a contract -- he played it one way, I played it another. I played it the right way, he played it the wrong way. I understand where he's coming from, but he played it wrong. He's upset and it doesn't seem fair and it really isn't fair, but Eddie just doesn't understand.
"I think he is a little salty because I took advantage of situations better than he has."
For all the missed opportunities in the past and the bad blood simmering for the past couple of years, Melendez and Alvarez will finally face off this Saturday night with a chance to settle the grudge.
Melendez has grown tired of hearing Alvarez complain and talk trash about him so he's ready to finish what was started almost eight years ago when they finally step into the Octagon together to do battle.
"It's put up or shut up time," Melendez said. "It's time for both of us to put up and get this done. There are just some guys you are destined to scrap with and I knew he was one of them. I look forward to it. I'll do my talking in the cage. I might do a little more talking in the cage than I've done in a while."
