Former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez suffered a unanimous decision loss to Jeremy Stephens at UFC 215.
Melendez suffered a gnarly knot on his leg during the fight and he thought about quitting, but his corner kept him fighting in the end.
MMA Junkie provided the following transcript of a brief discussion between Melendez and one of his cornermen:
“I think I’m done, bro,” Melendez said in between rounds two and three.
“Hey, you’ve got five minutes, you can do any (expletive) thing for five minutes,” a cornerman said to Melendez.
The former champion did fight for five more minutes on route to a decision loss, but without his corner, the fighter would’ve suffered a second round TKO loss.
Gilbert's wife Keri posted the following gruesome image of Melendez’s injury via Twitter:
It was the featherweight division debut for Melendez in the UFC, as he has previously competed in the lightweight division.
“El Nino” has now suffered his fourth straight loss in the UFC and he hasn’t earned a win in almost four years. This was also the first fight of a new multi-fight contract Melendez recently signed with the UFC.
