Diaz KO’s Zaromskis at Strikeforce: Miami

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Nick Diaz survived a knockdown and a cut to comeback and knock DREAM Welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis out late in the first round of their scheduled five round title fight for the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight belt. Diaz pinned Marius against the cage early, landing repeated knees to Zaromski’s right thigh (when I say repeated, I mean continuous for probably thirty seconds) before Diaz scored a takedown. After losing top position, Diaz seemed to be in control of the stand-up, picking Zaromskis off from range with the variety of angles he often confuses his opponents with before the Lithuanian turned it around. Midway through the round Marius rocked Diaz with a two punch combination before dropping him with a right hook that looked to have ended the fight. Diaz took some shots from guard but recovered, transitioned to his knees where he took more shots before standing up. Once up Diaz re-took control of the fight, battering Zaromskis across the cage. Once again showing that he is undoubtably the best body puncher in MMA, Diaz softened up Marius with heavy rips to the midsection before finishing him off with a barrage of shots culminating with a right hook.

The win for Diaz clearly ranks him as the top non-UFC welterweight and surely as one of the top ten welterweights in the world. Sure he lost some fights when he was in the UFC, but he was in his early 20′s. He’s shown with his last few fights that he’s one of the better boxers in MMA and with an even better ground game he is a handful for anyone in the division. Jay Hieron (who defeated Joe Riggs by decision on the undercard) is probably next but I can’t see him handling Diaz’s versatility. With Hieron’s main weapon being his wrestling, he’ll basically pick his poison against the more polished fighter. As for Zaromskis, I think this proves that he isn’t the devastating striker that everyone thought he was. The run he had to win DREAM’s Grand Prix last year wasn’t that difficult and he needs to develop a more well-rounded game if he wants to compete with the top dogs at 170lbs.

On the undercard, Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos defended her Lightweight title over Marloes Coenen via third round stoppage in a competitive fight. The difference proved to be in strength as Cyborg powered out of submission attempts while delivering heavy ground and pound and punishing Coenen standing up. The end came in the third round when a fatigued and battered Coenen was finished off with punches from on top. Robbie Lawler withstood an assault of leg kicks and body kicks from feared striker Melvin Manhoef to score a one-punch come-from-behind knockout over the K-1 contender. Manhoef was sending Lawler’s right leg airborne with the force of his kicks and just as he seemed close to finishind the former EliteXC Middleweight champion, he was clocked with a right hook and finished with an overhand left that left him unconscious for a brief period of time. Lawler limped around the cage celebrating his victory.

Other results
Bobby Lashley battered Wes Sims, scoring a first round stoppage via punches from the guard. Lashley got an easy takedown and worked his ground and pound to which Sims offered little resistance even though he wasn’t taking too many clean shots. NFL legend Herschel Walker scored a third round stoppage over Greg Nagy. Nagy was sort of in the fight in the first but Walker took over in the 2nd and closed the show in the third round with punches from the mount.

Strikeforce: Miami Preview

The first promotion by Strikeforce this year is a very solid card with two interesting title fights as well as a potential fight of the year candidate and fights by two of the biggest cross-over stars in the sport. In the main event, Middleweight giant killer Nick Diaz returns to his natural weight class of 170lbs after stopping both Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith last year to take on DREAM Welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight title. The Women’s lightweight championship is up for grabs as well with defending champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos defending against Marloes Coenen. Probably the most eagerly awaited clash of the night is what should deliver either a fight of the year candidate or a knockout of the year candidate (or both) with big punching Robbie Lawler fighting K-1 star Melvin Manhoef.

Diaz vs Zaromskis
The title fight between Diaz and Zaromskis is going to be a good battle. Zaromskis has shown last year that he is one of the more powerful fighters in the 170lb division but there’s still a few unknowns about him. Very little is known of the Lithuanian’s ground game and it will also be interesting to see if his new found success will help him when he fights someone with decent stand-up skills. Enter Nick Diaz. Diaz is a great jiu jitsu player who prefers to use his good boxing skills to beat down his opponents often while talking trash to them. One way or another we’re going to get some answers about Marius in this fight.

Those of you who have followed MMA for a few years know about Diaz. He debuted in the UFC when he was only 20 and made a real name for himself when he knocked out Robbie Lawler in his 2nd fight for the organisation. His UFC career went up and down with his eventual mark ending at 6-4 when he was brought into PRIDE to battle their dominant lightweight Takanori Gomi in a non title affair. Diaz won the fight with the rare gogoplata submission from the guard after a stand-up war only for the decision to be overturned for marijuana use. Since then he lost to KJ Noons in EliteXC, had Noons leave MMA to avoid a rematch and then put in two memorable performances to defeat Shamrock and Smith last year.

I really think this fight is Diaz’s to lose. We know Zaromskis has power, especially with his kicks. Diaz has a habbit of standing up with guys he really should be taking to the ground, although it doesn’t hurt him very often, this time it could. His best bet lies in taking Marius to the ground and working his excellent ground game. Zaromskis has been winning most of his fights quickly lately while Diaz has proved in the past that he has good conditioning so I think Marius’ best chances lie early in the fight. Diaz also has a good chin so it’s going to take some big shots to take him out, but I think his boxing should allow him to survive Marius’ stand-up and eventually the fight will hit the ground and Diaz will end in there. Nick Diaz by 2nd round submission.

Cyborg vs Coenen
I really don’t see any fighters in this division who will be able to survive Cyborg right now. Coenen has a solid ground game, but Cyborg’s aggression and pitbull-like tenacity is equivalent to when Wanderlei Silva was destroying the poor Japanese contenders back in 2001-2002 in PRIDE. I don’t think this fight will last very long, Cyborg by first round stoppage.

Lawler vs Manhoef
The one thing Lawler has in this fight that could make it interesting is that he is a solid wrestler, having learnt his game from the famed Miletich camp who at one stage held three UFC champions out of it’s camp at one time, and now training with Matt Hughes. There’s no doubt that Manhoef is the bigger puncher and the better striker. Could you imagine Lawler being able to hang in there in a stand-up fight with Remy Bonjasky? I hope Lawler delivers and comes to strike with Manhoef because it’ll be entertaining while it lasts, but Manhoef should win. Melvin Manhoef by first round knockout.

The Rest
Lashley and Walker by rape. Riggs-Hieron is an interesting fight, but I think Hieron will win on points.