UFC Chicago’s co-main event features a battle of old versus new in the lightweight division.

Gilbert Melendez is a lightweight legend that has been nearly forgotten by UFC viewers. The longtime Strikeforce king entered the UFC with an astonishing 21-2 record, and having never been finished. After going 1-3 and testing positive for testosterone metabolites Melendez has been out of the game for over a year. As a quick aside it is worth it to note that in the UFC Melendez has only lost to fighters that have worn the UFC lightweight belt at one point in their career. Now, Melendez is set to jump into the deep end of the pool against Edson Barboza.

Barboza is a sensational striker that seems to be hitting his stride. The Brazilian is responsible for some of the most memorable kicking performances in the UFC, but after disappointing stoppages to Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone analysts were ready to call him a glass cannon. Barboza seems to have put the correct tactics behind his techniques, and even though his recent record is 4-2, his game plans have begun to best utilize the freakish weapons he possesses. Fresh off of a win over former lightweight kingpin Anthony Pettis, Barboza seems like a title challenger to be.

Melendez made a name for himself grinding on fighters, using strong ground and pound to beat people up all over the cage. Will Melendez be able to get past Barobza’s quick jabs, fast feet and destructive kicks to make that happen? Will Melendez’s boxing based stand-up style be enough to circumvent Barboza’s outside offense? Let’s take a look at their recent performances.

Melendez’s most recent fight was a split decision victory over now lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez took that win with superior wrestling, but in the first round Melendez had some nice moments of his own.

Taking the Legs out of Punches

Anticipating a takedown, Alvarez stayed on the outside for first five minutes of his fight with Melendez. Melendez took the opportunity to jab Alvarez’s face off.

Below we see Alvarez circling away from the fence while backing up from Melendez. Melendez is assuming a deep stance to box out of. Alvarez pumps a couple of jabs, but Melendez slips the second one and fires off a snapping jab of his own. Alvarez resets and feints some more jabs, and Melendez’s own jab falls short. Noticing that Melendez is rooted to the ground, Alvarez throws a heavy right low kick. With no set-up for the kick and without timing Melendez’s steps, Melendez is able to counter Alvarez’s leg kick with a heavy jab.

Not too much action, but a nice simple stand-up showing from Melendez, a man that typically grapples. Assuming such a deep stance against Barboza is worrisome.

When a fighter plants their feet and sits deep into their stance it makes it harder for them to lift their legs. When a fighter can’t readily lift their legs, they can’t check kicks as well.

Barboza is arguably the best leg kicker ever in MMA. To date, Barboza has stopped two fights in the UFC with leg kicks. Not only does the Brazilian kickboxer throw his legs with insane speed and power, but he often sets his kicks up with other strikes to mask them when he’s on the offensive.

Below Barboza uses the classic pairing of a left hook and right low kick. The left hook will load a fighter’s hips to throw a right low kick afterwards, it draws a fighter’s attention away from the side to be kicked and it can also knock fighters toward the leg kick to come. Barboza’s hook is blocked by Pettis, but it does its job to herd Pettis toward the right low kick making it that much more powerful when it lands.

Often Barboza will throw his leg kicks during an opponent’s step, making it impossible to check. Below Anthony Pettis tries to come in behind a 1-2, but Barboza slides away, evading the jab. As Pettis plants his left leg Barboza throws an inside leg kick, lifting Pettis’s leg off of the ground. Once Pettis’s charge is halted Barboza throws a jab out to keep Pettis off of him before the fighters reset in the center of the cage.

Not only did Pettis’s movement limit his ability to stop the leg kick, but the leg kick stopped Pettis’s offense before it really could get going.

Obviously a leg kick that takes someone off of their feet is nice, but the true value in the strike comes after the midway point of the fight when the person that has been getting kicked can barely walk. Against a hard nosed grappler that boxes to get inside, like Melendez, leg kicks will limit a fighter’s ability to shoot for takedowns. What’s more, if Melendez opts to stand heavy on the front leg and jab on the feet he’s asking to have his legs kicked out from underneath him.

Making it to Close Quarters

Melendez will more than likely look to take the fight to the floor where he can use ground and pound, and avoid Barboza’s onslaught on the feet. Not only is Melendez a durable wrestler that is tough to submit, but he also has shown very creative ground striking.

Against the dangerous and unorthodox guard game of Shinya Aoki, Melendez patiently and methodically maintained posture to opportunistically strike. Melendez avoided Aoki’s submission attempts and took a comfortable decision after 25 minutes of fighting-that’s more than most can say.

The problem with grappling against Barboza is in the pursuit of the takedown, not on the ground. Not only does Barboza have some of the quickest strikes in the game, but his footwork is especially evasive.

Barboza is bouncing around on the outside with high hips when Pettis ducks in for a double leg. As soon as Pettis’s arms connect with Barboza’s legs the Brazilian moves his hips back, and turns out. Barboza uses his right arm to push on Pettis’s head and his left arm to over hook Pettis’s right arm, both doing their part to kill Pettis’s chain wrestling before he could pick up to a leg and switch to a single.

Because Barboza was standing light on his toes he was able to bounce away from Pettis’s incoming wrestling assault. The upper body grappling was just the icing on the cake.

Of course Melendez is a more efficient wrestler than Pettis so the comparison is not entirely even.

When Melendez faced Pettis himself he did his best to pursue the takedown for the duration of the fight, a similar game plan to what Melendez will probably use on Barboza. Melendez was able to get many of his takedowns by simply dragging Pettis off of the cage.

Pettis will give ground to opponents coming forward as it will allow him to throw combinations at the distance he likes. The problem comes when Pettis’s shots don’t discourage the fighter coming forward. Pettis will backup looking for room to strike until his back hits the fence. That is precisely why Melendez was able to have the limited success he did against Pettis.

Gilbert is pressuring Pettis to the cage but the latter lands a flush jab to Melendez’s face. Briefly stunned, Melendez backs off for a split second as Pettis circles along the fence. Melendez cuts off the cage to continue searching for the takedown. When he is in front of Pettis, Melendez throws a left and right hook, but Pettis evades the first hook and lands his own right hook that rocks Melendez. Partly to save himself, Melendez drops on Pettis’s hips and gets to work sucking his legs off of the wall.

The end result was what Melendez wanted, he got inside, but getting there was costly. Before Melendez grabbed Pettis he was visibly hurt. If they had been out in the open Pettis could have easily moved aside to continue attacking, playing the matador to Melendez’s bull. With his back on the cage Pettis was unable to continue evading, or land meaningful strikes. Against Barboza, Melendez can not play the game like this.

Barboza’s footwork facilitates comfortable outfighting as he will bounce around in the center of the cage, using lateral movement before he ever gets to the cage. When fighters do encroach on him he either sticks jabs out, or lands a hellacious leg kick, both of which will ruin Melendez’s night if he charges on Barboza like he charged on Pettis.

This isn’t to say Barboza is going to walk through Melendez. Barboza has been stopped before, and he lost a clear decision to Michael Johnson as the latter attacked on angles with quick punches and low kicks of his own. To beat Barboza Melendez will need to get in his face early so he can’t settle into a rhythm. If Melendez can stay light on his feet to check Barboza’s leg kicks while cutting off the cage then he can put Barboza on the fence. From there he needs to be patient and beat on Barboza’s body to wear him down and grind him out. More than anything Melendez needs to use the head movement he showed early on against Alvarez if he is to have a chance of surviving against the sniper Barboza.

Barboza’s skills were meant to destroy pressure fighters like Melendez. I’d like to see Barboza jab at the head and body to sap Melendez’s gas tank, and when there are breaks in action he would be wise to slam in some leg kicks too. I don’t think Barboza will charge out of the gates to knockout Melendez early, but a late stoppage is not out of the realm of possibility.

On the surface this does look very winnable for Barboza. Melendez is 34 years old and coming off of more than a year lay-off. Plus, the former Strikeforce lightweight champion has settled into his role at ESPN nicely. One has to wonder if the motivation is still there. Either way, I’m still excited to see one of the leaders of the “Skrap Pack” compete again, especially against one of the most dynamic lightweights on the planet.

Barboza and Melendez are the co-main event at UFC Chicago. To catch the bull versus matador match-up, tune in to FOX on Juy 23rd. Until then, keep your head around Cagepages for more fight coverage.