Josh Thomson (photo via Bellator)

By FCF Staff

Following the news that Gilbert Melendez is no longer with the UFC, Josh Thomson is calling for a fourth fight with the former champ.

Recently it was reported that Melendez has been released by the UFC, following his loss to Arnold Allen in July. While speaking on his YouTube channel recently, Thomson had this to say, while discussing his desire to fight Melendez again (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“This would not be like a money fight. This would be more of a situation where the two of us feel like there’s unsettled business,” Thomson said. “I won the first fight hands down, convincing. He won the second fight, hands down, convincingly. The third fight was a split decision loss. It was very controversial. As he was leaving the cage, people were booing. People were throwing things.

“As we walked down the tunnel (backstage) – I felt this was extremely inappropriate – people started spitting at them as they were leaving the arena. If you go back and watch that fight, I obviously felt like I won; he obviously felt like he won.”

All three bouts between Thomson and Melendez took place under the Strikeforce banner. The 41-year-old Thomson hasn’t fought since 2017 when he was knocked out by Patricky Freire at Bellator 172.