(photo courtesy Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

For Gilbert Melendez, the decision to continue his wrestling career after leaving Santa Ana High School was an easy one.

As high schools go, Santa Ana was just about as old and legendary as they come. Founded in 1889, the school is nestled in the heart of beautiful Orange County and provides students with an excellent education coupled with easy access to some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery in the world.

But the scenery wasn't enough for Melendez. He wanted to get away from his home town, to see new things and experience all the world had to offer. His wrestling career at Santa Ana saw him qualify for state competition twice, and that success earned him an athletic scholarship to San Francisco State in Northern California.

But once Melendez arrived at San Francisco State, he realized something was amiss. His wrestling teammates at Santa Ana constantly pushed each other to succeed, to reach their own physical and mental limits, and the wrestling squad at San Francisco State didn't have the same drive or determination. Feeling disillusioned with the team, Melendez considered quitting, but then he met the man who would become his part-time mentor and great friend.

"In my sophomore year, Jake Shields joined the team. He told me about this cagefighting stuff he was doing, but I didn't believe him," Melendez says. "But sure enough, Jake takes me over to Gracie's gym one day and kicked the crap out of me. And ever since then, I've been a disciple of Jake's. I knew that Jake was the best and I wanted to train with the best, so that's what I did."

Melendez made his professional debut for the pre-Zuffa WEC, beating Greg Quan in the first round. He was hooked. Melendez would appear several times for the WEC, but his reputation in the sport began growing exponentially when he faced the legendary Rumina Sato for Shooto in Japan.

"Sato was more than a legend. He was more than a fighter. He was a living legend. I was a little spooked out over his crazy submissions. I knew he wasn't in his prime and he'd had a couple of losses, but I was always scared of those submissions," Melendez says. "I knew that if I could get past those submissions, I would finish him."

Melendez is a meticulous planner. A voracious tape watcher, he studies his opponents with care, mimicking what he's seen in training hundreds of times until his preparation for a single opponent is second nature.

"I try to develop an instinct for every scenario, and that's how I approach it. I don't want to call it a game plan, but I'm instinctually ready for every scenario my opponent can throw at me," Melendez says. "I just let my instinct take over. Some moments in my fights can become a blur because I'm not even thinking about it, and it takes a lot of preparation to get to that point. I'm always ready."

Melendez returned to America to fight for Strikeforce, a company that was firmly cemented as a regional California promotion in 2006. He beat Harris Sarmiento into submission in his first bout, and then defeated current UFC lightweight star Clay Guida for the Strikeforce lightweight title. Though Melendez has returned to Japan since the title win, most notably for PRIDE Fighting Championships, Strikeforce remains his home base to this day.

But it's true that the Strikeforce of 2006 was far different than the place Melendez calls home today. Strikeforce head Scott Coker has taken the company international, signing co-promotional deals with various foreign fight promotions and even securing a network television deal with CBS. Melendez is a top ten lightweight, but it can be argued that he and DREAM star Shinya Aoki are the only two non-UFC lightweights worthy of a high ranking.

Melendez isn't concerned about his position in the MMA world, however. "There's enough competition to let me establish myself as one of the top lightweights in the world. The UFC is the biggest place to be and they have a lot of great talent. But right now, I'm back in the top ten with my two wins over Ishida and my win over Josh Thomson," Melendez says. "And they're talking about me fighting the number two lightweight in the world, Shinya Aoki. If they can provide me with opponents like Aoki, they will continue making me happy."

But is Melendez concerned that his legacy will be tarnished without bouts against top UFC stars like B.J. Penn or Kenny Florian? "I would say B.J., yes. Kenny Florian? No. I don't believe he's any better than anyone I've faced in my career," Melendez says. "But someone like B.J. Penn, that guy is on another level. He's a legend."

"To me, there's nobody in the world at 155 who is a legend besides Penn or Shinya Aoki, and outside of those guys, I have proven just as much as anyone in the UFC has," Melendez says.

Aoki, the Japanese star with the colorful pants and brilliant submission game, is likely to be Gilbert's next opponent. Melendez was supposed to face Aoki in August 2006, but an injury derailed the fight. PRIDE rescheduled the fight for the New Years Eve show, and Melendez and Aoki even met in the ring to build up the fight with an interview. But four weeks from the fight date, Aoki was removed from the fight and replaced with Tatsuya Kawajiri. To this day, Melendez doesn't know what happened, but he doesn't believe Aoki is scared to fight him, as many have suggested.

"There are advantages to fighting at home. When I go to Japan, the people there are very biased against me, but I'm sure someone like Aoki has the same feeling when he fights over here," Melendez says. "I don't think he's scared of me. He's a warrior and he's a fighter. But I do match up very well with him, and I would imagine that he's probably a little concerned about fighting me."