"I don't think so," Melancon contests as he sits and rests after five five-minute rounds of sparring in a sweltering modified garage at the Paradigm Training Center in Houston.

There's a reason that Melancon, who never wrestled in school and has only been fighting professionally since January of last year, is highly regarded enough to be headlining this Saturday's Legacy Fights event. You can see it when he's pushing his exhausted and overheated teammates to get back on the mat, or when you see the kinds of skills he demonstrates in training (he managed to fight off every take down attempt in 25 minutes of sparring). What one might gather from the way Melancon and his friend and training partner Randy Hauer tell it, Melancon is one of Texas' best kept secrets.

"My confidence comes from [the fact that] I've been sparring with UFC-level guys after six months. I've been in with ten different UFC or WEC fighters. I've been sparring with them and I've held my own with all of 'em. I've knocked a couple of 'em out." Melancon looks away. "I'm not gonna name names, obviously."

"I was there," Hauer attests.

Melancon got a late start as the fight game goes, but he's paid his dues to catch up to the level he wants to be at. In training, he wears headgear with a bar spanning across his nose because he broke his nose so many times just in the first few weeks of sparring. Hauer recalls that when Melancon first started, his nose would leak blood after every single practice, and yet, he always came back to bleed some more. After a few weeks, Melancon got the hang of moving his head and announced, "Look guys -- my nose isn't bleeding today!"

It's no secret that Melancon loves a good brawl. Just watch his dramatic war with Adam Schindler in May at Bellator 20. That said, Melancon wasn't looking to fight such a drawn-out battle. He actually failed to make weight. Doubtful of his stamina, Melancon felt that he needed to dig in and try to knock Schindler out. It didn't work out that way.

"Pretty much everything in the training camp went wrong. I was injured, wasn't able to wrestle. I knew I was facing a good wrestler, but I couldn't wrestle because I dislocated my rib. The only thing I did for a month to get ready for that fight was hitting focus pads and doing Crossfit work outs."

Melancon would lose via unanimous decision, but it was a valuable loss. "I've watched it over a hundred times," Melancon said. "I know every mistake I did."

Against a well-rounded fighter like Moore, a WEC and Dream-veteran who has fought the likes of Shinya Aoki, Shane Roller and John Alessio, any mistake could prove disastrous. Melancon could not be more calm and content about the looming fight.

"Nothin' but respect," Melancon said. "This is more about the competition aspect of it. He's one of the best guy's in Houston, no doubt about it. He's gone on to better things and now he's back trying to make his way up coming off two wins and this is a test. This is what I like. This is what I gotta do."

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Watch Adam Schindler vs. Brian Melancon here at Bellator.com (select "Bellator 20 - Adam Schindler vs. Brian Melancon" from the menu on the right)