{"id":35927,"date":"2012-09-03T14:12:05","date_gmt":"2012-09-03T21:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=35927"},"modified":"2022-02-06T13:32:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T21:32:24","slug":"melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Melendez Comes Out As Huge Favorite Over Healy I MMA News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/03\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news-35927.html\/gilbert-melendez-8\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35932\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35932\" src=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/gilbert-newsite2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"390\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/gilbert-newsite2.jpg 390w, https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/gilbert-newsite2-300x207.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 390px) 100vw, 390px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The best lightweight that Strikeforce has to offer opens up as a huge favorite over his next challenger.<\/p>\n<p>Current Strikeforce lightweight champion, <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/2011\/06\/12\/strikeforce-fighter-gilbert-melendez-fan-page-16775.html\">Gilbert Melendez<\/a> (21-2) is a -950 to +790 favorite over challenger, Pat Healy (28-16).<\/p>\n<p>Healy is a journeyman of MMA but has fought for Strikeforce for the last two years while compiling a 6-1 record. His only lost came to the latest lightweight challenger, Josh Thomson. With the confusion in the UFC lightweight division as well as the integration of fighters from Strikeforce to UFC nowhere to be seen, Healy comes in as a time-filling challenger who could really turn heads with a win over the heavily favored reigning champ.<\/p>\n<p>For Melendez, another win will mean another challenger in Strikeforce. A rumored (and unnecessary) fourth bout with Thomson would come sooner than later as Strikeforce scrambles to find anyone worthy of drawing fans to the next lightweight title fight. Melendez and fans alike are surely eager to see him and the rest of the Strikeforce 155-pound roster test their mettle in the UFC, hoping to have as successful of a crossover that the WEC fighters had.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The best lightweight that Strikeforce has to offer opens up as a huge favorite over his next challenger. Current Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert Melendez (21-2) is a -950 to +790 favorite over challenger, Pat Healy (28-16). Healy is a journeyman of MMA but has fought for Strikeforce for the last two years while compiling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":35932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10086],"tags":[382,500,552,11,699,864,15],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Melendez Comes Out As Huge Favorite Over Healy I MMA News | BJPenn.com<\/title>\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\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Melendez Comes Out As Huge Favorite Over Healy I MMA News | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; The best lightweight that Strikeforce has to offer opens up as a huge favorite over his next challenger. Current Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert Melendez (21-2) is a -950 to +790 favorite over challenger, Pat Healy (28-16). Healy is a journeyman of MMA but has fought for Strikeforce for the last two years while compiling [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\" \/>\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=\"2012-09-03T21:12:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-06T21:32:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/gilbert-newsite2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"390\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\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\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"bjpenndotcom\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/7c8b8d1602cb47040b7a5cd250d5b90a\"},\"headline\":\"Melendez Comes Out As Huge Favorite Over Healy I MMA News\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-03T21:12:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-06T21:32:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\"},\"wordCount\":199,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Gilbert Melendez\",\"Josh Thomson\",\"lightweight\",\"mma\",\"pat healy\",\"Strikeforce\",\"ufc\"],\"articleSection\":[\"MMA News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2012\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\",\"name\":\"Melendez Comes Out As Huge Favorite Over Healy I MMA News | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-03T21:12:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-06T21:32:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/melendez-comes-out-as-huge-favorite-over-healy-i-mma-news\/#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\":\"Melendez Comes Out As Huge Favorite Over Healy I MMA News\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; 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The best lightweight that Strikeforce has to offer opens up as a huge favorite over his next challenger. 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