Gilbert and Keri Taylor Melendez talk Bellator 301, owning a gym, parenthood, and Nate Diaz
Gilbert Melendez and his wife Keri Taylor Melendez are an MMA power couple in the fullest degree possible.
Gilbert is of known for his outstanding career as a fighter in which he was an outstanding lightweight champion in Strikeforce before competing twice for the UFC lightweight title. He also has worked as an analyst for ESPN for number of years.
Meanwhile, Keri is currently fighting in the Bellator flyweight division in which she holds an undefeated 5-0 record.
Most recently at Bellator 301, Keri picked up a second round submission win over Sabriye Sengul and of course she did it with her husband in her corner as Gilbert serves as her coach and manager.
The two work great together, even though they will joke that Keri can become “Scary Keri” when she yells at Gilbert during a training session, but all jokes aside, the couple’s success shows inside and outside of the cage.
Clearly both Gilbert and Keri are great athletes, but they are also great teachers, business partners and parents.
The two started a gym called the El Niño Training Center and that has now blossomed into a whole MMA community in San Francisco known as the Skrap Pack.
While Gilbert is the main coach at the gym, Keri is helping the with the growth of the women in the gym as she teaches classes and helps women learn self defense.
The gym is growing bigger and bigger by the minute and while the two work very hard in their careers, they still make time for their daughter Leylakay, who the two say definitely has Gilbert’s ability to articulate and rally those around around her.
Before Bellator 301, Leylakay was selling her mother’s fight by getting all of her friends, classmates and teachers to tune in on fight night.
Following Bellator 301, both Gilbert and Keri took time from their very busy schedule to speak with MyMMANews on a number of topics.
The two spoke on Keri’s recent victory and what’s next for her as Bellator has been bought out by the PFL. They also spoke of the business adventures and parenthood. And of course they also talked about being friendship with martial arts superstar Nate Diaz.
You can watch their full interview in the video above.
