After Vegas pizza tour, Brian Melancon accepted UFC Fight Night 27 fill-in duty

INDIANAPOLIS – UFC welterweight Brian Melancon said he received around 30 interview requests after his fight with Seth Bacynski at UFC 162.

Of course, it figures that he got that kind of response. That’s what happens when you step off the bench after a 12-month layoff, fight in the UFC, and knock out out a seven-time octagon vet in dramatic fashion.

Melancon’s impressive KO might even have won him a $50,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus had a pound-for-pound great not been concussed in the event’s headliner.

“When (Chris) Weidman knocked out Anderson (Silva), I was like, ‘Nope. That’s gone,’” Melancon (7-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) said.

But onward rolls the 31-year-old from Houston, who steps up on short notice to meet “The Ultimate Fighter 17? winner Kelvin Gastelum (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 27 at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It’s part of the FOX Sports 1-televised main card.

Melancon doesn’t take offense to the notion that he was a virtual unknown leading into the July fight. He and his teammates chuckled at critics who said he didn’t belong in the cage with Bacynski, who had a 4-1 record in his second UFC stint. After Melancon’s win, though, no one doubted where he belonged.

Possessed with heavy hands and an aggressive, fan friendly style, Melancon stood out even before he landed the knockout blow that prompted a stoppage with one second left in the opening round of the fight.

Now, as he embarks on a path that will bring him the toughest challenges of his career, Melancon, who hones his skills at Houston’s Paradigm Training Center, already feels like he’s a success.

“I said it a bunch of times when I first started training: (My goal) was to get a win in the UFC,” Melancon told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Fortunately, I was able to accomplish that with my last fight, so the rest is just enjoying the ride. I work hard, and I train hard, and I’m just having fun with it all and taking it fight by fight.”

That’s why Melancon didn’t think twice when the UFC called him to step in for injured Paulo Thiago to face Gastelum, who went from the last pick on “TUF 17? to upsetting show favorite Uriah Hall and claiming the tournament title. Melancon had emerged from the Bacynski fight uninjured and figured the chance to fight the reality-show winner.

“This is kind of a continuation of the last camp,” Melancon said. “(I had) no injuries from before, so I was able to go right back at it. I had a little time off, and that probably helped with nagging injuries over time that build up from training.”

The only bother, he said, was going back on his diet to make weight for the fight. After he knocked out Bacynski, he visited three separate Las Vegas pizza joints in a row.

Moving forward, Melancon thinks he’ll stay sanest fighting three times a year. But when opportunities like the current one arise, who knows.

By now, he’s used to his phone ringing.

“It’s pretty neat because it’s a main-card fight, especially after having time off and coming back into it with one fight and going to the main card,” Melancon said. “He’s a great fighter coming off a highly publicized win, where he was an underdog just like I was. So it’s definitely a great opportunity, and I look forward to it.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 27, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.