MEXICO CITY -- For years, many have wondered who would get the better of a lightweight fight between Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez.
Following the three-round fight in the co-main event of UFC 188 on Saturday at Mexico City Arena, the matter remains somewhat unclear.
After years of going back and forth in headlines, it was Alvarez (26-4) who technically won bragging rights by narrowly defeating Melendez (22-5) via split decision. Two judges saw the fight for Alvarez, a former Bellator MMA champion, 29-28. The third judge scored it 29-28 Melendez, a former Strikeforce champion.
ESPN.com had the fight 29-28 for Alvarez.
Although the lightweight affair was close, it was not the barnburner many expected. Melendez scored the biggest strike of the night by far by tagging Alvarez with a counter right elbow that closed his left eye with swelling. Alvarez responded with his wrestling game in the second and third rounds and ultimately scored three crucial takedowns to Melendez's none.
"I would have liked to open up a little more than what I did," Alvarez said. "He shut my eye in the beginning. Fighting through it was tough.
"I told Henri [Hooft, striking coach], 'There's something wrong with my eye.' That sucked. We fought through it though. That's what it's about -- fighting through stuff like this."
Not only did the elbow close Alvarez's eye, but it also had him visibly wobbled on his feet. Melendez stalked him after landing the shot but didn't go all-out in an attempt to finish the fight. The first round clearly belonged to the San Francisco-based fighter, though, as he continued to hit Alvarez with the jab and several right hands.
Momentum changed in the second round, when Alvarez started to continually shoot on Melendez. Most of the attempts were stuffed, but Alvarez managed to push Melendez to the fence and occasionally land short punches on the inside. Melendez answered at times with the jab, but Alvarez forced him into the close-quartered fight he wanted.
By the third, Melendez appeared gassed from staying upright. Alvarez immediately shot for a takedown in the opening 10 seconds and eventually picked Melendez completely off his feet and slammed him. Melendez quickly worked back up, but Alvarez took him down again moments later.
The win improves Alvarez' UFC record to 1-1. He suffered a decision loss to current No. 1 lightweight contender Donald Cerrone in September. He was scheduled to fight former champion Ben Henderson in January but was forced to withdraw. Melendez is now 1-3 in the UFC. His other two losses came in UFC title fights to Henderson and Anthony Pettis.
Gastelum shuts down Marquart
Kelvin Gastelum got back into the win column with a dominant showing against Nate Marquardt. Now he'd like to go back to welterweight, please.
Gastelum (11-1) cruised to a TKO victory against the former Strikeforce champion by battering Marquardt enough over the course of 10 minutes that he couldn't answer the bell for the third round. The official time of the stoppage for the middleweight bout is 5:00 of the second round.
The 23-year-old was forced to move up to the 185-pound weight class after badly missing weight for his most recent welterweight fight in January against Tyron Woodley. He went on to lose that fight via split decision.
Gastelum has consistently struggled to make weight at 170 pounds. He also came in heavy for a bout against Nico Musoke the past June.
"That's the plan," Gastelum said when asked if he'd go back to welterweight. "Hopefully, this performance was good enough to get back in [the UFC's] good graces. I'll tell them to give me a good opportunity back at 170 pounds. It was a hard lesson learned. I'm ready to man up and take responsibility for my actions and do it the right way."
Marquardt (33-15-2) didn't offer Gastelum much resistance. He landed a handful of right hands on the feet, but the writing was on the wall early. He struggled to keep his back off the fence under Gastelum's pressure and was saved by the bell in the first round after Gastelum landed a crushing left uppercut.
Referee Dan Miragliotta probably could have stopped the fight late in the second round, as Marquardt went to his knees after eating a knee and covered up. Gastelum jumped on him and landed a series of unanswered left hands, but Miragliotta allowed the fight to continue and a beat up Marquardt eventually got back to his feet.
The 36-year-old has now lost five of his past six fights, three by knockout. It is the fourth knockout of Gastelum's career and eighth finish overall.
Rodriguez shows promise, edges past Rosa
The UFC might have something special on its hands in 22-year-old Mexican featherweight Yair Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (5-1), winner of last year's "The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America" series, had to survive a rough final round but was otherwise impressive in a split decision victory over Charles Rosa.
Judge Glen Trowbridge scored the bout for Rosa, while judges Chris Lee and Derek Clearly scored the fight for Rodriguez. It marks the second win of Rodriguez's UFC career, though he also won two unofficial fights during the TUF tournament.
The bout got off to a crazy start, as Rodriguez clipped Rosa right off the bat with a spinning wheel kick. Rosa (10-2) smiled and waved Rodriguez to keep coming forward, which he did. Moments later, Rodriguez hurt Rosa with a flying knee before Rosa managed to take him to the floor.
The action didn't stop there. Rodriguez immediately caught Rosa in a triangle attempt from the bottom. Rosa never appeared close to tapping, but he remained stuck in the position for nearly half the round. He did eventually work to Rodriguez's back in a scramble but lost the position quickly.
Before the round ended, Rodriquez knocked Rosa's mouthpiece out with a jab.
The second round was even worse for Rosa, as he continually lunged forward on ineffective single-leg takedowns. Immediate stats counted four total takedowns by Rosa in 12 attempts. When he did score a takedown, Rodriguez countered with elbows to the top of Rosa's head, which opened a cut that bled down into his opponent's face.
Rosa, 28, refused to go away, however, and clearly imposed his will in the last frame. He took Rodriguez down in the opening 30 seconds and landed elbows and punches from the top. He failed to keep him there for the entirety of the round but converted a second takedown near the end of the fight.
Rodriguez, who fights out of Chicago under an affiliate of Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA, has suffered one career loss, via first-round knockout in December 2012. Rosa drops to 1-2 in the UFC.
Cejudo sails past Camus
Henry Cejudo looks at home. In the UFC, at flyweight, in Mexico -- all of the above.
The former U.S. Olympic gold medalist in wrestling improved to 3-0 in the Octagon by defeating Chico Camus via unanimous decision. Judges scored the fight for Cejudo 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
After a somewhat rough start to his UFC career -- he was forced to withdraw from his debut at UFC 177 due to last-minute weight cutting problems -- Cejudo (9-0) has been impressive in three decision wins. He ultimately fought at 135 pounds in his UFC debut in December but has made the 125-pound flyweight limit in his past two fights with no issue.
Fighting out of Milwaukee, Camus (14-6) did well in defending takedowns in the bout, but he struggled with Cejudo's pressure. Cejudo repeatedly closed the distance on Camus, throwing strikes from the clinch or working for a takedown. Camus frequently used the fence to stay upright but found himself vulnerable to Cejudo combinations as a result.
According to immediate cageside stats, Cejudo out-landed Camus in total strikes 131-71 -- almost exclusively on the feet.
The second round was Camus' best, as he managed to back off Cejudo several times with counter punches off stuffed takedowns. He scored with the jab and right hand in the center of the cage but only in spurts. Eventually, Cejudo's persistence in moving forward would put Camus on the fence again.
Cejudo, who was born to Mexican parents, did manage a clean takedown late in the final round to seal the deal. He has now defeated Dustin Kimura, Chris Cariaso and Camus in the UFC.
Torres earns the nod over Hill
Tecia Torres maintained her high rank within the strawweight division by out-pointing Angela Hill in a unanimous decision for her second UFC win.
Torres (6-0) relied heavily on grappling and took Hill down in each of the first two rounds to jump ahead on the scorecards. All three judges scored the 115-pound contest for Torres: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Facing a visible size disadvantage, it was clear Torres wished to force her way inside. She had limited success when attempting to shoot through Hill (2-1) but planted Hill on the canvas twice after ducking under punches. Hill, 27, proved to have little off her back -- never attempting a submission or coming anywhere close to working back to her feet.
After scoring her first takedown midway through the first round, Torres landed a handful of shots from top position, including a few hard right hands near the end of the frame after she stood up in Hill's guard. In the middle frame, Torres very briefly moved to full mount but was shucked off the position quickly.
Both women looked tired in the third. Hill tried to come on in the early parts of the round, but her offense wasn't nearly as crisp as it was in the beginning of the fight, and Torres eventually worked into long stalemates along the cage to waste time. Cageside stats had Torres out-landing Hill in total strikes, 86-77.
Fighting out of American Top Team, Torres moves to 2-0 in the UFC. Her official record remains perfect, with previous wins against Rose Namajunas and Paige VanZant. Hill drops to 1-1 in the Octagon.