Morning Report: Gilbert Melendez calls Diego Sanchez 'delusional,' says rematch would be 'easy money'

Former Strikeforce champion and current UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez says he loves watching footage of his UFC 166 bout with Diego Sanchez, but still believes the action was fairly one-sided. Melendez, who believes he won each round, officially topped Sanchez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).

After the three-round war was unofficially crowned 'Fight of the year' by fans and media, Sanchez called the fight a draw and began campaigning for a five-round rematch.

"I feel like he got hit a lot," Melendez tells Fight! Magazine. "If he's saying it was a draw I think he's a little delusional. You gotta say what you gotta say when you lose to keep yourself in the right mentality and feel like you're still relevant, to campaign for yourself. I could have went two more rounds. I felt like I was on to something. He's the guy that fires away and gets tired and I start attacking. They got a lot of timeouts for him. They weren't going to stop it in the third round, there was no reason to call timeouts. I could go on and say how I feel but I'm just happy I won. I think [Sanchez] is a little silly for saying that but he's a weird guy. Sometimes he's complimenting and sometimes he's disrespectful and I don't think he even knows it."

Even so, it doesn't sound like UFC matchmaker Joe Silva would need to twist Melendez' arm much to book the rematch with Sanchez.

"It seemed like Dana [White] loved it. He was just 'Diego, Diego, Diego.' I was waiting for my compliments and it was 'Diego.' I think [the rematch] is something they do want to see. They're talking 'World War, lets do it in Mexico City.' To be honest, that's easy money. That was good for me. If he thinks it was competitive I'll be more than happy to bust him up again."

UPDATE: Sanchez responds to Melendez.

@mmamania @ufc @GilbertMelendez @danawhite ill be more than happy to knock your ass out again only I wont go for chokes gnp and its a tko.

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 8, 2013

5 MUST-READ STORIES

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Cain and EA Sports. Dana White says only idiots are using Cain Velasquez' 'Brown Pride' tattoo as an excuse for him not being involved in the game's cover voting.

20 in 20. Chuck Mindenhall's series reaches 2003, the year a small town in Iowa seemed like the center of the MMA universe.

It ain't easy. MMA referee Kim Winslow talks about living her life under intense scrutiny and opens up on the Miesha Tate-Cat Zingano stoppage.

MEDIA STEW

Fight for the Troops recap.

Michael Wooten vs Chris Holdsworth from this week's TUF.

UFC Fight Night 32 open workouts.

Carlos Alberto vs. Wylden at Shockwave combate MMA 4.

Action from Circuito Talent de MMA:
Lucio "Bart Simpson" vs Vinny Loureiro.

Marcio Teles vs. Nelson Filho.

World Jiu-Jitsu Expo: Jon Fitch vs Paulo Miyao preview.

Great amateur(?) fight. Ashley Reece vs Martin Chester at FCC 8.

(HT to @MMABrad48)

TWEETS

This is coming together nicely.

I don't think I have earned a shot at any of the top guys. I think the @UFC should give me someone like @bisping

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) November 7, 2013

(Sorry for the screen grab, Bisping deleted this one)

@TimKennedyMMa well it's simple. Call the UFC and say u wanna fight me in April. Put your money where your mouth is big shot.

— michael (@bisping) November 8, 2013

@bisping Just remember you asked for this. I promise I won't knee you while you are down, poke you in the eye or spit on you when it's over.

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) November 8, 2013

...

@TimKennedyMMA don't you dare knock eye patches Tim. They are in! Great meeting you. Congrats pic.twitter.com/ce1pJwxrx2

— Chris Camozzi (@ChrisCamozzi) November 8, 2013

GSP tweets the goods.

My samples have been analyzed by the WADA-accredited UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab. Here are the results. pic.twitter.com/ovCFfUR6wj

— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) November 7, 2013

Round 437.

@UFC_NEWS_UK @TheNotoriousMMA @UFC172 that could be fun. I dont think ufc will allow him to fight 155 I like the match up #drama #storyline

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 7, 2013

@TheNotoriousMMA the only reason for even considering your irreverence, is to do you the favor of humbling your egocentric mentality.

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 7, 2013

@TheNotoriousMMA you have no class conor none at all! #TRUTH

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 7, 2013

Big John getting it from all directions.

Whoa whoa, Big John needs 2 take a look at @TheJamesKrause package b4 determining legality. Where does his junk sit. Hi-dick lo-dick? @ufc

— Urijah Faber (@UrijahFaber) November 7, 2013

Eddie back in the rafters.

@BellatorMMA Now that's more like !!!! Lol

— Edward Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) November 8, 2013

Toquinho on the mend.

Right now I'm still with a lot of pain in my shoulder, but @TeamNogueira is giving me every support for me to return and fight ASAP!!

— Rousimar Palhares (@ToquinhoMMA) November 7, 2013

Interesting take.

FS1 ratings R tanking!Sponsors will have to quit using the ratings excuse as to why they won't pay @BellatorMMA guys http://t.co/OlTPDAZbkE

— Brian Rogers (@BRogthePredator) November 7, 2013

A little Halloween leftovers.

Haha was a great night! RT @HerschelWalker: @LukeRockhold Good Times pic.twitter.com/WjLj4YrOMB

— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) November 8, 2013

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Nov. 7 2013)

Sergio Pettis vs. Will Campuzano at UFC 167

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via Emmery Myers.

Observations from "Fight for the Troops 3"

1. The event had an awesome early Zuffa feel. The small arena, smaller cage, intimate crowd and even the way the Octagon itself was dressed felt more like an early Zuffa show. It felt like I was watching an event from 2005 and that was pretty damn cool. The intimate and jacked up crowd reminded me of when only the hardcore faithful would show up to events at small casino ball rooms. The only thing missing was a Mickey's sticker and a UFC.TV url on the cageposts. Part of the reason Bellator is such a good TV product is most of their events are in small arenas in smaller markets with super rambunctious, capacity crowds. The same was true of older UFC events. Dana used to say one of the reasons the UFC stays away from larger venues is that would kill the vibe of the show which is so integral to the UFC. Bitch, don't kill my vibe. I quite liked the feel of the event and I hope the UFC hosts more like that in the future. While you don't get panning shots of an NBA arena full of fans, you can more than make up for it with the energy of the crowd that you can feel from two planets away.

2. The smaller cage contributed to the action packed fights. Cutting guys off is way easier in a cage of that size. For events such as WEC 54 - erroneously known as UFC on Fox 9 - that feature mostly smaller weight class fighters, I'd like to see a slightly smaller cage than used in most other arenas. WEC events were some of the best events in MMA history. No one who actually watched the WEC whined about "little guys can't finish" or complained that the fights weren't interesting because there was no drama. WEC events were wild. Never boring. Plenty of great finishes. One of the main reasons was the smaller cage accommodated sub-155'rs better. The fights in those weight classes were flat out better in the WEC than they are in the UFC(in addition to the smaller cage providing an optical illusion regarding the size of the athletes.) UFC on Fox 9 won't be held in an aircraft hanger. It will be at the ARCO Sleep Train Arena which for a UFC event will be just shy of 20,000 seats. With a live audience that size, the UFC's hand may be forced(correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Aldo vs Faber, also held at the ARCO used a bigger cage than most WEC events) But I think a smaller cage still may be possible and that idea should be explored for future cards featuring smaller fighters.(yo, wtf kind of name is Sleep Train Arena anyway? These corporate renamings of stadiums are out of hand. I hope Vince Offer's post-hooker-tongue-bite comeback is successful and he is able to buy a majority share in MSG, renaming that shit the Shamwow! Arena, you following me camera guy?)

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