Strikeforce Evolution Preview: Josh Thomson vs Gilbert Melendez 2 Will Be Nothing Like Their First Fight

At least that's what they're telling Dave Meltzer:

But if Thomson's instincts and premonitions were a key to winning the last fight, he said those same instincts tell him this fight is going to be nothing like the first one.

"I think it's going to be way different," said Thomson, known around MMA circles as "The Punk," a nickname he admitted he probably once deserved but, at 31, is one he no longer embraces. "It will be nothing like the first fight."

The only similarity is that he expects Saturday's fight to go the distance.

"I think it's going all five," he said. "He's super hard to knock out [Melendez has never been knocked out or submitted in his career]. He's got a good chin. He's got conditioning. I think my ground game is better than his. I got his back and was working for a choke in the fourth round (of the first fight).

"There's a good chance it'll go five rounds," said the 27-year-old Melendez. "But I'll be looking to finish. I'm not looking at sticking and moving and looking to win rounds. I'm going to throw every punch with bad intentions, with the idea of knocking him out."

The first match was an instant classic of game-planning and strategy on Thomson's part. I liked it so much I did a whole Judo Chop on Thomson's use of the front kick:

I was blown away by the method Thomson used to beat Melendez: the front kick (not pictured, I couldnt' find a nice still shot of Josh using the front kick).

Its not that flashy a technique, nor is it much of a fight finisher. Its also not a technique we've seen a great deal of in MMA. It's quite common in Muy Thai where it functions essentially as a jab and is called a "teep kick", often the most thrown strike in a fight.

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In the first decade of MMA, throwing kicks was seen as risky, virtually inviting the takedown. But Thomson used the front kick to keep Melendez out of punching range. And since Melendez usually shoots in behind his looping lead lefts, keeping him out of punching range thoroughly stifled his formidable wrestling game.

We've already seen Melendez thoroughly modify his game plan from his first fight (and the first loss of his MMA career) against Mitsuhiro Ishida to the rematch. In the first fight, Ishida was able to seize the initiative and turn the fight into almost a pure wrestling match -- with Ishida fighting for top control and Melendez struggling to get off his back or back to his feet. In the rematch, Melendez never let Ishida control the tempo of the fight, battering him standing and then getting the takedown on a stunned Ishida and finishing with brutal ground and pound.

To beat Thomson, Melendez will have to get past the front kick and not let Thomson use it to dictate the range at which the fight takes place.

Let's re-visit the animated gifs from the first fight in the full entry.

All of the below is recycled from my original Judo Chop on Thomson vs Melendez.

Gifs by Chris Nelson.

Here we see Josh throwing a rear front kick (that's a confusing name but it means he's throwing the kick with his rear leg) to Gilbert's head.

Note he lands with his heel rather than the ball of his foot. TKD stylists land the kick with both the ball and the heel. Anderson Silva started out in TKD and you see it in the pic of him kicking Henderson, landing with both the ball and heel of his foot.

Here we see the lead front kick to the body.  Thomson used this throughout the fight the way an offense will run the fullback up the middle behind a powerful guard who's just crushing the defensive line.

Gilbert can't even get fully into his boxing stance before he's pushed back out of range again.

Here Josh uses a lead front kick to get himself out of trouble when Gilbert has him backed against the cage and is throwing combinations.

The kick forces Melendez back and lets Thomson get off the cage and out of danger. That happened throughout the fight.

This last one shows how late in the fight, Thomson is using the threat of the front kick to back Melendez up and once he's back peddling, take him down.

I'd love to see a FightMetric of this fight, I'd like to know how many front kicks Thomson landed in this fight. He really ran over Melendez with this technique. Its not anything fancy, just a straight shot up the middle.