Aoki-Melendez an MMA Milestone

The five-round tilt, which will air on CBS’s live broadcast of Strikeforce “Nashville” from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., marks the first time champions from two major fight promotions will face off on U.S. soil.

In the annals of the sport’s history, this bout is monumental. MMA, in general, hasn’t embraced the practice of co-promotion like boxing does, where the names that make up the marquee supersede the organization that puts the fight together. Instead, MMA promotions have operated mostly as islands, drawing from their own stables and internal ranking systems to create headlining bouts. This doesn’t always translate into the best fighting the best, though.

On Saturday, the San Jose, Calif.-based Strikeforce and Japan’s Dream organization will buck that trend and offer up their respective 155-pound champions. The stakes are high on both sides. Melendez, a gritty wrestler ranked No. 8 in the world, will lay his title on the line. Aoki, the No. 2-ranked lightweight, will leave the cage Saturday with his country’s and his own pride either intact or taken from him.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, whose decade of experience negotiating with Japan’s K-1 promotion no doubt came in handy, said it took a solid year to sew up the bout.

“To have Aoki, who’s really (Dream’s) Japanese treasure -- he’s like their (legend Kazushi) Sakuraba and a superstar over there –- to take the risk and come over here and fight someone like Gilbert, it was tough to do,” said Coker. “Luckily, he had an opening after Dynamite (last New Year’s Eve) and we grabbed him.”

Predicting the bout’s winner is not an easy task. Melendez, who was ranked as high as No. 2 in his division until he incurred two losses in 2008, is a rugged, well-versed fighter who lives to stand and trade in the pocket. Aoki’s style also depends on close quarters, as the 26-year-old often glues himself onto his opponents and drags them to the ground for a dose of bully-mentality jiu-jitsu.

“As soon as he (catches) kicks, he’ll latch onto you and he’ll hold onto you and he’ll just be the anaconda snake,” said Melendez. “He’s a very intelligent fighter and it’s obvious you want to keep it on your feet with him. Once he gets to the ground, he’s has a great back attack, a great rubber guard. He has great leglock attacks.”

Aoki is a viciously innovative grappler. On New Year’s Eve, he grabbed and torqued Sengoku lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota’s arm behind Hirota until it snapped. Aoki then saluted his fallen opponent with a jig and flashed his middle finger.

Though Melendez admits post-fight antics are “really not my style,” the 28-year-old fighter said he can be just as ruthless.

“Breaking the guy’s arm, it’s part of the game. The guy should have tapped out. My mentality stepping into the cage is kill or be killed,” said Melendez.

In fact, the mop-topped American seems more excited than intimidated for Aoki’s advanced jiu-jitsu savvy. Training at Cesar Gracie’s Academy in Pleasant Hill, Calif., Melendez works out regularly with black belts Jake Shields and Nick Diaz, as well as younger charge Nate Diaz. Like Aoki, all three utilize their grappling as an offensive tool.

“I believe I’ve been preparing for this guy unconsciously for five years,” said Melendez. “As I study his tapes, I get scared of all of those positions, but the closer it gets to my fight, the more confident I feel about it.”

Still, Melendez acknowledges that his best chance is on its feet, the same way he demolished Aoki’s countryman Mitsuhiro Ishida last August. Melendez believes Aoki has shown a propensity to manipulate referees in Japan with conversation and other stalling tactics to avoid striking showdowns.

“Sometimes he’ll look for the way out,” said Melendez. “I can’t give him the opportunity. If I actually hit him in the nuts or elbow him wrong, I’ve got to realize that he might take advantage of that and just find a way out. … I’d almost blame myself if I gave him that opportunity to get out of there.”

Aoki will also be fighting in a cage for the first time in his career. Melendez thinks that could work in his favor.

“In Japan, when you fight in the ring, especially if you’re Japanese, you got to dialogue with the referee and you have a bunch of (officials) dragging you to the middle…,” said Melendez. “In the cage, it’s almost like the referee’s not involved at all until he needs to stop the fight or penalize someone. I think the cage could play an advantage in the jiu-jitsu game for me. If I wedge him against there, he might be a little uncomfortable.”

Both promotions have intonated that a rematch hasn’t been set in stone, though that hasn’t stopped fans from talking about one. Rather, Saturday’s results will dictate whether Melendez and Aoki face off again. If Aoki loses, the chances of a rematch increase exponentially, most likely on Japanese ground.

“If they do ask Gilbert to come to Japan, I personally would have no problem with it and if Gil wanted to do it, maybe he could go take back the Dream belt and be a titleholder,” said Strikeforce’s Coker.

Coker said it would make sense for Melendez to rematch the Japanese fighter in Dream’s ring under their diversified rules.

Melendez, who made his name in Japan with five standout performances before returning stateside to join Strikeforce’s ranks, feels he could get a fair fight abroad.

“Let’s be honest, it’s a little biased everywhere you go, and (Aoki) has dialogue with the referees and takes a little bit extra time out over there and they favor him out there -- but I’ve fought in Japan before,” said Melendez. “I got a win over (Tatsuya) Kawajiri out there. That was a close fight, and I feel maybe the judges will be fair to me out there.”

This article was updated at 2:26 p.m. ET to reflect that Strikeforce will not be using elbows on the ground on Saturday.