FanHouse Mitsuhiro Ishida

Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson and interim champion Gilbert Melendez will look to unify the belts in a rematch on the Strikeforce: Evolution card on Dec. 19 in San Jose, Calif.

The fight has been rumored for quite some time, but the website of Melendez's Cesar Gracie camp has finally confirmed the bout. The rematch has already been twice promoted and canceled both times this year due to Thomson's ankle and leg injuries.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Gilbert Melendez has been waiting almost two years to avenge his December 2007 loss to Mitsuhiro Ishida, and he finally got to do so on Saturday night. "El Nino" defeated Ishida via third-round TKO, and in the process retained his Strikeforce interim lightweight title.

Next, the much-improved Melendez hopes to avenge his loss to lightweight champion Josh Thomson, but if Thomson isn't medically cleared -- and Melendez wants to see an official doctor's note when he is -- he told FanHouse that he hopes to just continue building on Saturday's impressive win. Check out the full video interview below.

Gilbert Melendez defeated Mitsuhiro Ishida by third-round TKO Saturday night on the Strikeforce: Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg undercard, winning the first two rounds of the fight before getting Ishida's back and raining punches down on him in the third.

The first round was fairly close, but Melendez showed superior striking and landed more punches. In the second round a Melendez punch landed up a cut on the right side of Ishida's head, and blood streamed down for the rest of the round. By the end of the second, Ishida looked like he was in trouble.

This is the Strikeforce live blog for Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida, the interim lightweight championship bout on the Showtime card Saturday night.

Ishida, who stepped in for champ Josh "The Punk" Thomson on two weeks notice, is the first person to hand Melendez a loss. Here, Melendez attempts to defend his belt and avenge one of the two losses in his career.

Follow the live blog below.

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FanHouse has Strikeforce results for all of Saturday's Strikeforce fights, including the main event featuring Gina Carano vs.Cris Cyborg for the first 145-pound women's title in MMA history.

Other notable fights on the Strikeforce fight card include Renato "Babalu" Sobral defending his light heavyweight title against Gegard Mousasi and Gilbert Melendez putting his interim lightweight belt on the line against Mitsuhiro Ishida.

Get the complete results below, and follow along on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith for MMA updates.

Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos is the biggest fight in the history of women's mixed martial arts, and if you can't be there to watch it live and in person, you can follow along with our live MMA Twitter updates.

MMA FanHouse will be live tweeting all the fights: Carano vs. Cyborg, Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato Sobral, Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida, Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor and Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle. To follow along, follow me on Twitter or refresh this page throughout Saturday night.

MMA Twitter universe is getting excited about Saturday night's Strikeforce fight between Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg, so we have a number of questions about the fight in our latest MMA Twitter mailbag about the fight, starting with whether Cyborg winning would be good or bad for women's MMA.

We also have a question about a strange couple of days in the UFC, when two fighters lost their jobs, then got them back, then lost them again. Your questions and my answers for the MMA Twitter mailbag are below.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - When Josh Thomson wasn't medically cleared to defend his title against Gilbert Melendez on Saturday's Strikeforce card, a lot of MMA fans groaned. But when Thomson was replaced by Mitsuhiro Ishida, the general consensus was that the organization had found a more than suitable replacement.

Saturday's interim lightweight tilt will be a rematch of a December 2007 fight, which Ishida won via unanimous decision. FanHouse spoke to the Japanese veteran about accepting this fight on short notice and what he expects to see from Melendez in the cage. The full interview is below.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Josh Thomson will be an interested observer on Saturday night during the Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida Strikeforce interim lightweight title fight. Of course, the current Strikeforce 155-pound champion was supposed to defend his title against Melendez on this card but was forced to pull out of the bout when his doctor would not medically clear him. Thomson broke his left leg in April.

FanHouse spoke to Thomson on Thursday about his road to recovery and who he expects to win on Saturday night. The full video interview is below.