Gilbert Melendez batters Tetsuji Kato with a broken hand.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It wouldn't be wrong to suggest that mixed martial artists are single-handedly responsible for the outcome of their fights. On a chilly Southern Californian evening, winning "single-handedly" is literally what Gilbert Melendez did. Looking to shed 10 months of ring rust, the undefeated Melendez endured a busted right hand to defeat Japanese veteran Tetsuji Kato in a tougher-than-expected U.S. return to competition. As Hugh Hefner and his entourage of Playboy bunnies sat cageside, the Strikeforce 155-pound champion fought with Kato to cap the first MMA event at the iconic Playboy Mansion with a compelling three-round non-title affair.

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Gilbert Melendez, right, batters Tetsuji Kato with a broken right hand.

Melendez, 25, didn't look to trade early, opting instead for a fast takedown. But Kato was unwilling to give up position so easily. The squat 29-year-old Shooto veteran, who fought at 167 pounds early in his career, made it a fight until Melendez connected with a perfect right straight that put him on the canvas. Melendez (13-0) kept up a decent pace in the first period and connected with heavy left-handed hammerfists that bloodied Kato's nose to close out the opening five-minute round. Just as Melendez was gaining momentum, he connected with a right that caused him to wince. While "El Nino" never gave up using his right, he refrained from relying on it as a bludgeoning tool. Melendez intelligently employed his power hand to feint and set up the left, which soon delivered a steady dose of jabs, double jabs, hooks and double hooks. "I was throwing it to set up a left, make him open up," Melendez said. "And a couple times I let it open up, try to measure for the chin, but if I hit him on the top of the head it made me think twice." The California State Athletic Commission suspended Melendez for 180 days, pending x-rays showing the severity of the damage. "I know it wasn't broken," Melendez said, holding an ice pack to the top of his swollen right hand. "I just need to heal it up." In the final period Melendez battered Kato's already-beaten face with a stream of lefts that pressured the Japanese fighter, who had blood pouring from his nose and a cut above his right eye, and sported a sirloin-worthy shiner around a quickly closing left eye. It was a gutsy effort from a Strikeforce champion intent on finishing Kato (18-8), whom most predicted Melendez would walk through. "I need to get back to training," Melendez said. "I'm not that happy, to tell you the truth." Taking time to heal should give Strikeforce enough breathing room to sort out plans for him, though it appears Josh Thomson, also a winner Saturday at the Mansion, is in line for an opportunity at Melendez's title. "Me and Josh are good styles," Melendez said. "We spar all the time. You know, he's a great fighter. He was a role model for me. When I used to watch him, Hermes [Franca] and Yves [Edwards] go at it, I always looked up to him.