Expect another first round finish from Pettis.
Gilbert Melendez is great but has a pretty basic skill set. Good boxing good wrestling and a ton of heart. None of those things are something Showtime hasn’t seen before. Pettis’s skill set is anything but basic and is nothing like Gilbert has ever seen. What it really comes down to is Gilbert has a style that is easily replicated in practice but good luck to El Nino on finding anybody that can fight like Pettis. In his fight with Diego Sanchez Diego was able to land a good body kick early in the first round. A kick from Pettis early in the fight is going to set the tone for the rest of the night and it won’t be good for Gilbert. Then late in the third Diego was able to land a huge uppercut that rocked Melendez. I doubt he will go in there with the same plan of standing and brawling with Pettis, but if Sanchez can sneak one through, Pettis will be able to as well. Pettis can capitilze on a wounded opponent much better than Sanchez can. Whether it be a TKO or a submission this fight will not go the distance. Gilbert has never been finished in a fight before, but Cowboy had never been stopped with strikes before Pettis and Henderson had never been submitted before either. If he plays it cautious Showtime will land from a distance. If he brings the pressure it will leave openings for Pettis and if he wrestles with him he will get submitted. If he can stay injury free Pettis is the new long reigning king of the lightweights. His only real threat is an undefeated Russian former bear wrestler named Khabib Nurmagomedov
