And that has nothing to do with age yet everything to do where the mixed martial arts champion has finally reached.

For years, Melendez, the Bay Area Native who now fights out of San Francisco, stayed true to the hometown MMA promotion that was Strikeforce, conquering its featherweight and lightweight divisions since he arrived in 2006, and before then with the World Extreme Championship in 2002 where he cut his teeth to an 8-0 record.

But now, 23 fights and 21 victories later, Melendez steps into the big boy octagon for his first fight with the Ultimate Fighting Championship