
Gilbert Melendez
Acting
Biography
Gilbert "El Niño" Melendez is a Mexican-American mixed martial artist who has fought at Featherweight and currently fights at Lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a two-time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and a former WEC Lightweight Champion. He also competed in PRIDE FC, Shooto, and Rumble on the Rock. Melendez holds the distinction of being one of a select group of fighters who have ever been ranked #1 in the world in two weight classes in MMA, among the likes of Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Kazushi Sakuraba, and BJ Penn. Melendez was nicknamed after the infamous El Niño storm that wreaks havoc across the Pacific Rim. It was given to him by a Japanese broadcaster describing his fight-style and the manner in which he stormed through the Shooto Featherweight division
Known For

The exploits of the Los Angeles–based Office of Special Projects (OSP), an elite division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that specializes in undercover assignments.
NCIS: Los Angeles

The next generation of UFC stars are produced in an intense elimination tournament that separates the contenders from the pretenders.
The Ultimate Fighter

Bourdain travels across the globe to uncover little-known areas of the world and celebrate diverse cultures by exploring food and dining rituals. Known for his curiosity, candor, and acerbic wit, Bourdain takes viewers off the beaten path of tourist destinations – including some war-torn parts of the world – and meets with a variety of local citizens to offer a window into their lifestyles, and occasionally communes with an internationally lauded chef on his journeys.
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

SUPREME CHAMPION is a fun, sexy, stylized and fast paced fight action thriller about honor and courage featuring eight world class mixed martial arts champions.
Supreme Champion

Yarennoka! took place on December 31, 2007, at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan, promoted by the Yarennoka! Executive Committee, former Pride Fighting Championships executives, in association with Fighting and Entertainment Group, DEEP, and M-1 Global. The main event features Fedor Emelianenko, former Pride Heavyweight Champion, facing K-1’s Hong-Man Choi, billed as “Fedor Returns” on HDNet and SKY Perfect. Emelianenko enters after a submission win over Mark Hunt at Pride Shockwave 2006, while Choi comes off a K-1 Grand Prix loss. Key undercard bouts include Shinya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung, with Aoki fresh off a TKO over Akira Kikuchi, and Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, pitting Pride and Hero’s Grand Prix champions. It’s a farewell to Pride fans post-UFC acquisition, inspiring the creation of DREAM.
Yarennoka!

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce. It was held in San Jose, California on August 15, 2009. The event aired live on the Showtime cable network and marked the first time two women headlined an MMA event in history.
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg

WEC 6: Return of a Legend was a mixed martial arts event promoted by World Extreme Cagefighting on March 27, 2003 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. The event was centered around the return of MMA superstar Frank Shamrock taking on Bryan Pardoe. Shamrock had been retired and not competed in MMA since December 2000.
WEC 6: Return of a Legend
Chronicles the daily lives of professional MMA fighters from all different levels over the course of one year.
Fight Life

Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by Strikeforce. The event will take place on December 17, 2011 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Submission Underground 8 took place Sunday, May 12, 2019 with 6 fights at Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon.
Submission Underground 8

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce on April 11, 2009 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first event promoted by Strikeforce after their acquisition of assets from the defunct EliteXC promotion through its parent company ProElite. It aired on the Showtime cable network and online through Strikeforce All Access.Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Pat Miletich were commentating during the broadcast and Jimmy Lennon Jr. was the ring announcer. The official attendance was announced to be 14,409.
Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz

Pride Bushido 12 also known as Pride Bushido Survival 2nd Round was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships. It took place on August 26, 2006, at the Nagoya Rainbow Hall.
Pride Bushido 12

Quintet Ultra was a grappling team survival event held by Quintet on December 12, 2019 at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, USA. This event was based around teams representing four of the most notable MMA promotions: the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting. Combatants were chosen based on how closely linked their careers were to those promotions.
Quintet Ultra

UFC on Fox 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko was a mixed martial arts event held on July 23, 2016 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The event was headlined by a women's bantamweight bout between former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and multiple-time Muay Thai world Champion Valentina Shevchenko.
UFC on Fox 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko

UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III was a mixed martial arts event held on October 19, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the current champion Cain Velasquez and top contender Junior dos Santos. The two have split their two previous encounters with Dos Santos winning the first bout via first round knockout and then Velasquez winning the rematch via unanimous decision at UFC 155.
UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III

WEC 10: Bragging Rights was a mixed martial arts event promoted by World Extreme Cagefighting on May 21, 2004 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. This event saw the fourth appearance of future Superstar Gilbert Melendez who took on Olaf Alfonso. This event also saw two of the most well known fighters in the world Karo Parisyan take on Shonie Carter. The main event saw Mike Serr take on Rafael Real.
WEC 10: Bragging Rights

UFC on Fox 7: Henderson vs. Melendez was a mixed martial arts event held on April 20, 2013, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event was headlined by a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between defending champion Benson Henderson and Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez. Also featured on the card was a bout between two time UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Daniel Cormier.
UFC on Fox 7: Henderson vs. Melendez

Strikeforce: Evolution was a mixed martial arts event to be held by the Strikeforce on December 19, 2009 in San Jose, California at the HP Pavilion at San Jose. The event aired live on Showtime in the US and live on SuperChannel in Canada.
Strikeforce: Evolution

UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 is a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 9, 2017 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2

UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II was a mixed martial arts event held on December 6, 2014 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event was a Welterweight championship rematch between champion Johny Hendricks and number one contender Robbie Lawler. Their first fight at UFC 171 ended in a unanimous decision victory in favor of the reigning champion. The Co-main event featured was a Lightweight Championship bout, which also served as the coaches bout for The Ultimate Fighter Season 20, as current champion Anthony Pettis made his first title defense against Gilbert Melendez.