I don’t know Strikeforce lightweight Josh “The Punk” Thomson as a person, but I do know is he always puts it all on the line when he fights, and delivers entertaining shows for the fans. His last bout with Gilbert Melendez at Strikeforce was a classic and Melendez and Thomson both deserved immense credit for leaving it all out there and having a duel that is certainly one “Fight of the Year” top 10s of 2009.

With so much on the line for fighters, it’s not surprise that numerous competitors retreat and try and shy away from any attention after a loss. The highs in the game appear to be as euphoric as euphoria can be, but the lows can often bring fighters to the darkest realms of their being. So it was refreshing to see Josh Thomson show tremendous class and positivity after his defeat to Gilbert Melendez after their bout. Thomson was seen clapping enthusiastically when Melendez was announced the winner and new champion at 155 in the organization. As previously mentioned, after a hard-fought loss, numerous fighters are understandably not the most gregarious and social entities you’d expect to meet. Which makes the fact that Thomson not attended the post-fight press conference, but heartily congratulated his opponent, jovially jested at the gathering, and emanated a highly positive attitude towards everything. Thomson talked about how proud he was of Melendez for coming back from their past defeat, and did so with a genuine attitude of admiration as he paid respect to his opponent’s true championship spirit.

A more positive vibration among the MMA media is something Thomson is hoping to spearhead. He has been dismayed at some of the overly critical attitude which can reverberate throughout the industry. “I think the media has also seen my frustration, I’ve told them over and over that just being negative in their interviews instead of talking about the positive things we did, it’d be nice to see some positive energy in their interviews”, urged Thomson at the post-fight press conference. “This is a great sport, I’d hate to see the media bring us down by saying the negative things”, added Thomson.

And there was much positive about the evening. Strikeforce put on a tremendous show, fighters fought their hearts out, Melendez and Thomson are 2 of the best lightweights in the world and showed their heart and talent in spades Saturday night. The record shows a loss for Thomson, but I think Thomson won a ton of fans gained a lot of respect by the way he fought and conducted himself after the bout.