Thomson Back to Action

AKA's Josh Thomson is rehabbed and ready to defend his championship tonight.

Josh Thomson’s months and months of frustration will come to an end, when he steps into the cage against Gilbert Melendez to unify the Strikeforce lightweight championship.

Thomson has been out of action since April with a variety of injuries, as he was supposed to take on Melendez in a rematch of their first fight on June 27, 2008.

Now that he has gotten past the training camp and weigh-ins without any issues, Thomson is ready to finally end the year-long layoff.

“It was frustrating,” Thomson (16-2) said. “It made me stronger mentally and now it’s really pushing my limits on trying to get by. Making sure I’m training smarter and harder.”

It wasn’t so much the pressure of fighting or even fighting a world-class opponent that was bothering Thomson. The pressure he felt was to get through the camp without re-injuring himself and forcing the fight back yet again.

He had his teammates like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch help me get over the mental hurdles of returning to fight after an injury.

“Koscheck and Fitch have given me a lot of support, mentally there was more pressure to get to the fight,” Thomson said. “I don’t feel any pressure in this fight. Getting to the fight was the pressure.”

The biggest concern Thomson had was his timing, which after a longtime away from fighting at full speed would diminish.

The injury also slowed his development, where he said he was keeping up with everyone in the gym, the injury forced him to play catch-up with the other fighters as they grew, matured and learned with him on the sidelines.

“[My teammates have] all gotten better,” Thomson said. “Now I’m trying to catch up and hopefully surpass them before the fight.”

As he sat on the sidelines, Thomson found himself being more of a coach, helping his teammates prepare for fights.

While his teammates practiced, Thomson attempted to mentally digest the stuff they were learning, so he could try and emulate it when he finally was healthy and at 100 percent.

“ I played it in my mind,” Thomson said. “Everyone was here for support and I give them my all, and whatever they needed. I felt like a leader in the gym and make sure.”

Melendez has been on a tear since losing to Thomson in the first fight, having defeated Rodrigo Damm and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

Melendez became the interim champion after defeating Damm, which naturally made him the No. 1 contender.

Thomson doesn’t worry about not having a chance for a tune up fight. He understands that it comes with the territory and that it wouldn’t be fair to Melendez if he took an “easy fight” before fighting the No. 1 contender.

“I’m not afraid of Gilbert,” Thomson said. “There’s no benefit of fighting a tune-up. It’s disrespectful of him. We’re ready. He fights me. He doesn’t. After we move onto the next fight. I’m not looking for any sympathy.”

When he steps into the cage tonight, Thomson will finally make his Showtime debut, and a win would help set up bigger fights with the recent working agreement with DREAM.

Thomson said he will defend against anyone Strikeforce puts in front of him.

“It’s great. It’ll be wonderful to fight Tatasuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki,” Thomson said. “As long as I have the title, I want them to come here and fight.”