{"id":284874,"date":"2018-09-13T15:52:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T22:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=284874"},"modified":"2018-09-13T15:52:40","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T22:52:40","slug":"gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/","title":{"rendered":"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division’s best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez (22-7).<\/p>\n

“El Nino” was once known as the king of Strikeforce as he dominated the 155-pound weight class having\u00a0won the title on two separate occasions (three if you count interims) along with six title\u00a0defenses (five excluding interim).<\/p>\n

Upon the UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce, Melendez rightfully received an immediate title shot against the then UFC champion Benson Henderson. The two fought to an incredibly close decision that saw Henderson edging it out to retain. Since then, Melendez has gone 1-4 with his only victory coming in the classic war he had with Diego Sanchez in 2013.<\/p>\n

Melendez took some time off prior to his last bout in September 2017 against Jeremy Stephens. And when he returned for the fight it was for his first fight at 145-pounds since 2003.<\/p>\n

FloCombat<\/a>\u00a0has now reported that Melendez is back and a matchup between him and the hot prospect out of TriStar Gym, Arnold Allen (13-1) is in the works for UFC 232 on December 29.<\/p>\n

PhotoCred: MMAViking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 24-year old Allen currently rides an impressive six-fight\u00a0winning streak (four in the UFC) that includes exciting fights and wins over the likes Makwan Amirkhani and Mads Burnell.<\/p>\n

Allen has proven to be one of the brightest prospects in the featherweight division and a bout with Melendez will surely be his most seasoned and experienced challenge to date.<\/p>\n

As for the rest of UFC 232 which continues to shape up, this is how things currently stand for the UFC’s year-end\u00a0throwdown:<\/p>\n

Featherweight – 145lbs: (C)Cris Cyborg<\/a> vs. (BW C)Amanda Nunes<\/em><\/p>\n

Light Heavyweight – 205lbs: Ilir Latifi vs. Corey Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n

Flyweight – 125lbs: Jessica Eye vs. Sijara Eubanks<\/em><\/p>\n

Middleweight – 185lbs: Uriah Hall vs. Bevon Lewis<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com<\/a> on 9\/13\/2018<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division’s best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez (22-7). “El Nino” was once known as the king of Strikeforce as he dominated the 155-pound weight class having\u00a0won the title on two separate occasions (three if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54445,"featured_media":284876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[20612,10324],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232 | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division's best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232 | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division's best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Gilbert-Melendez-Cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Drake Riggs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrakeRiggs_\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Drake Riggs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Drake Riggs\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/cb9453802ca47ce42b30bfa92ade0bc7\"},\"headline\":\"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\"},\"wordCount\":330,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Arnold Allen\",\"Gilbert Melendez\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\",\"name\":\"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232 | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00\",\"description\":\"It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division's best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Gilbert Melendez\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA & UFC News, Results & Fight Videos\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"| BJPenn.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/cb9453802ca47ce42b30bfa92ade0bc7\",\"name\":\"Drake Riggs\",\"description\":\"Drake Riggs is an MMA writer based out of Brush Prairie, Washington, USA who specializes in feature pieces, the women's fight scene, lists, news coverage, and rankings. He has been a passionate fan of MMA ever since 2009. Drake has most notably written for BJPenn.com, FanSided, The Body Lock, South China Morning Post, MyMMANews, WhatCulture, Cageside Press, Sherdog, The Scrap, and MMA Today. He has also written for and created video content for RT Sport. As for other sports, Drake is a longtime fan of the NFL's Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @DrakeRiggs_ . Also check out all of his video content on YouTube at YouTube.com\/DrakeRiggs where he uploads fighter interviews, podshows, and various other types of content.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/drakeriggs.journoportfolio.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drakeriggs_\",\"Drake Riggs\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrakeRiggs_\",\"YouTube.com\/Drake Riggs\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/drake\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232 | BJPenn.com","description":"It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division's best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232 | BJPenn.com","og_description":"It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division's best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/","og_site_name":"| BJPenn.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","article_published_time":"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Gilbert-Melendez-Cropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Drake Riggs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrakeRiggs_","twitter_site":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Drake Riggs","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/"},"author":{"name":"Drake Riggs","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/cb9453802ca47ce42b30bfa92ade0bc7"},"headline":"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232","datePublished":"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/"},"wordCount":330,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Arnold Allen","Gilbert Melendez"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2018","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/","name":"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232 | BJPenn.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-13T22:52:40+00:00","description":"It has been a less than ideal run in the UFC so far for one of the lightweight division's best in the former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/gilbert-melendez-vs-arnold-allen-in-the-works-for-ufc-232\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MMA News","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Gilbert Melendez","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gilbert-melendez\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Gilbert Melendez vs Arnold Allen in the works for UFC 232"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","name":"| BJPenn.com","description":"MMA & UFC News, Results & Fight Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization","name":"| BJPenn.com","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","width":600,"height":148,"caption":"| BJPenn.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/cb9453802ca47ce42b30bfa92ade0bc7","name":"Drake Riggs","description":"Drake Riggs is an MMA writer based out of Brush Prairie, Washington, USA who specializes in feature pieces, the women's fight scene, lists, news coverage, and rankings. He has been a passionate fan of MMA ever since 2009. Drake has most notably written for BJPenn.com, FanSided, The Body Lock, South China Morning Post, MyMMANews, WhatCulture, Cageside Press, Sherdog, The Scrap, and MMA Today. He has also written for and created video content for RT Sport. As for other sports, Drake is a longtime fan of the NFL's Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @DrakeRiggs_ . Also check out all of his video content on YouTube at YouTube.com\/DrakeRiggs where he uploads fighter interviews, podshows, and various other types of content.","sameAs":["https:\/\/drakeriggs.journoportfolio.com\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drakeriggs_","Drake Riggs","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrakeRiggs_","YouTube.com\/Drake Riggs"],"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/drake\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54445"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}