UFC
UFC comes to terms with Gilbert Melendez, will coach TUF 20 with UFC Lightweight Champ Anthony Pettis
Feb 24, 2014 - 8:05:26 AM UFC comes to terms with Gilbert Melendez, will coach TUF 20 with UFC Lightweight Champ Anthony Pettis

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Huge news has broken tonight, as the UFC has matched the deal offered to Gilbert Melendez by Bellator, and he'll be coming back in a fight with Anthony Pettis for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

That fight won't come until later this year, as in addition to the signing, the UFC announced that Melendez and Pettis will coach the debuting UFC women's strawweights on The Ultimate Fighter 20.

The new season will film this May, and will premiere on Fox Sports 1 on Sept. 10. The 16-woman tournament will crown the UFC's first ever Women's Strawweight Champion, and Pettis and Melendez will battle for the UFC Lightweight Title shortly thereafter.

Melendez, the former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion, will get his second shot at the title, having lost to Benson Henderson by decision last April. Pettis then captured the title from Henderson when he submitted him in August at UFC 164.

Penick's Analysis: This is huge, huge news. The UFC did what they should have done in keeping Melendez, and this will be a huge fight with Pettis after a historic season of TUF. It takes the Aldo fight off the table for this summer, and doesn't let Pettis return as early as he'd like, but this is actually better for him as he'll get more time to recover from his knee injury and still keep himself in the public eye.