Penick's Take
PENICK: Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz belong in the UFC after clearing out their divisions in Strikeforce
Apr 11, 2011 - 7:45:43 PM PENICK: Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz belong in the UFC after clearing out their divisions in Strikeforce

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce Champions Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez have finished off the remaining challengers in the organization with their wins on Saturday night in San Diego, and the time is now for them to get their shot against the elite in their respective weight classes in the UFC.

With Zuffa purchasing Strikeforce, crossover fights are bound to happen sooner rather than later, but for these two particular fighters, there's simply nothing left for them inside Strikeforce's hexagon.

For Melendez especially, there are no top lightweights for him to face in Strikeforce that he hasn't already beaten. With his excellent performance against Tatsuya Kawajiri, there's one fight to make, and that's to pit him against the winner of UFC 130's Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard rematch.

The unification bout that he called for after defeating Kawajiri on Saturday night is, quite frankly, a more legitimate unification bout than the originally planned UFC vs. WEC title clash featuring Anthony Pettis. Pettis is a star in the making, for sure, and his win over Ben Henderson was incredible in December, but Melendez's career record would rightfully leapfrog him over Pettis for a shot.

Melendez's wins over Shinya Aoki and Kawajiri in the last year are bigger wins from a rankings standpoint than those of any other challenger in line right now, and with no legitimate challenges for Melendez in Strikeforce it's simply time for him to prove the spot he believes he's earned as the number one lightweight in the world.

For Diaz, a move right to a title fight in the UFC is not in the cards, but with Tyron Woodley being the only welterweight challenge left for him in Strikeforce, there are simply bigger and better fights for him inside the Octagon. That's not a slight to Woodley, who is a very talented welterweight prospect, but he's still just making his way up the ranks and isn't on the level of the many fights that could be made in the UFC.

There are just too many exciting possibilities as far as matchups are concerned for Diaz in the UFC. At the top of my list would be a fight with B.J. Penn that could be one of the more fantastic non-title welterweight fights in UFC history. But that's not the only option the UFC would have with Diaz.

The UFC's welterweight division is one of the deepest and most competitive divisions from two on down, as Georges St. Pierre's dominance in the top of the division has left a wide gap between him and the rest of the field. But outside of GSP's next challenger in Jake Shields, any of the top 10 fighters on the UFC's welterweight roster could make for extremely exciting and challenging matchups.

Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann, a rematch with Diego Sanchez, these are just a few of the possibilities bringing Diaz into the UFC would open up, and after his performance against Paul Daley all of them are sure to be immensely entertaining matchups.

The UFC isn't going to merge Strikeforce completely right away, and for a lot of the fighters in Strikeforce there is time to see where they stand throughout a number of fights over the next year. However, for Melendez and Diaz, there's simply no reason to have them continue to fight lesser competition now that they're under the Zuffa banner. They believe they're the best in the world in their respective weight classes, and there's no better time to give them the opportunity to prove it.