Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley
9. Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (Lightweight Championship bout): Gilbert Melendez defeated Tatsuya Kawajiri via TKO (strikes) at 3:14 of round 1 to retain the Strikeforce lightweight championship.
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According to FightMetric Melendez landed 33 significant strikes in his fight against Tatsuya Kawajiri and as such remains at #2 with 554 landed in his Strikeforce career.
Melendez came out strong and landed cleanly. Kawajiri tried to return fire reminiscent of his fight with Alvarez, but Melendez was landing too much and avoiding Kawajiri's counter striking. Despite Kawajiri looking overwhelmed through much of 3 minutes, I thought the fight was stopped a little prematurely. Kawajiri, while being dominated in the fight, has proven his ability to return from bad situations.
R:4 A:3 S:4 T:4-