Melendez vs. Thomson III? Scott Coker wants it but the fighters want to move on

One of the questions that came out of Strikeforce: Evolution was whether or not there will there be a rubber match between Melendez and Thomson?

A third bout certainly fits into the conventional wisdom as each fighter won a fight and both fights were "Fight of the Year" candidates. Unfortunately, it appears that Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson want to move on.

Gilbert Melendez spoke to Cage Writer about a possible third fight.

"Now that we got our stuff done with, it's up to us to prove we're the best 55ers. Me and him[Thomson] are badass. I think me and him can take out all the dudes in UFC and all the dudes in DREAM. It's about the respect. We can beat a lot of those guys. We're complete MMA fighters. A lot of guys aren't.... There's gonna be a third one, huh? I'm not looking forward to it. I left my heart out there. I don't know if they showed it on TV but I puked a little bit afterward. I think we put on a great show. I‘m cool with calling it even."

Thomson also chimed in.

"We’ve delivered great fights. Now it’s time for us to keep pushing [Scott Coker] to bring in the bigger name fighters and for Gilbert and I to start laying them out," said Thomson, "I welcome them with closed fists."

...

"There's gonna be a third one, huh? I'm not looking forward to it. I left my heart out there. I don't know if they showed it on TV but I puked a little bit afterwards. I think we put on a great show. I‘m cool with calling it even,"  said Melendez.

"Just like Rocky, I don't want another one," Thomson chimed in with his best Rocky Balboa. "There ain't gonna be a third."

Scott Coker sung a different tune and even used Thomson's Rocky metaphor against him.

"Josh and Gilbert one was amazing and to see a fight that out did, that you know, basically out did the first one its pretty impressive because I didnt think it could happen. That's the kind of fight thats like the Marquez-Vasquez in boxing, you could watch every month, we could do this fight every month....There has to be a rubber match at some point, right?"

...

"Oh yeah, we'll do six more. there was Rocky one, two, three, four, five and six, right?"

...

"When the trilogy you know happens I think that all eyes will be on this fight because it was an amazing fight."

So it looks like Josh and Gilbert will get a brief reprieve --if you call fighting someone a "reprieve"-- before facing off in a rubber match, possibly on CBS...

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Evolution