Strikeforce – Diaz vs. Daley
April 9, 2011
Valley View Casino Center
San Diego, California, United States
Strikeforce Welterweight Championship
Welterweight (170 lbs)
[#5] Nick Diaz (24 – 7 – 0) vs. [#8] Paul Daley (27 – 9 – 2)
Nick Diaz is the top ranked welterweight outside of the UFC, and is coming into this bout on a 9 fight win streak. 5 of these wins have come via TKO, and 3 have come by way of submission. Diaz is a finisher, no question about it, but he will be standing across the cage from a brutal finisher in Paul “Semtex” Daley. Anyone who has watched this man fight knows why he is nicknamed after an explosive. 20 of Daley’s 27 wins have come via TKO, and only 8 of his 38 fights have gone the distance. Diaz has a solid striking game which is composed of mainly jabs and peppering shots from the outside, while Daley is known for his devastating power punches. With a 4 inch height advantage, Diaz will want to keep a distance on the feet, and gain strategic takedowns to work his greatly superior ground game. If this fight goes to the floor, Diaz could very likely walk away with a submission victory. If Daley coaxes Diaz into wild punching exchanges, he could possibly capitalize on this much in the way he did when he knocked out [#44] Scott Smith. However, Diaz has one of the best chins in the business. He has only been stopped once in his career by strikes, and that was to [*] Jeremy Jackson in 2002. A victory for Daley over Diaz would turn the Strikeforce welterweight division upside down.
Strikeforce Lightweight Championship
Lightweight (155 lbs)
[#4] Gilbert Melendez (18 – 2 – 0) vs. [#9] Tatsuya Kawajiri (27 – 6 – 2)
Gil Melendez is one of the best at lightweight, having only lost twice in his career since debuting in October of 2002. It has been almost one year since Melendez won a clear unanimous decision over [#3] Shinya Aoki. Melendez is on a 4 fight win streak, and has won 5 of his last 6. This is not the first time these two have faced each other. Melendez holds a decision victory over Kawajiri from back at Pride Shockwave on 12/31/2006. Since then, Kawajiri has gone 8-2 in 10 fights. Kawajiri rebounded from a submission loss to Shinya Aoki in July 2010 by defeating [#25] Josh Thomson via unanimous decision on new years eve 2010. Melendez most likely has the striking advantage, but Kawajiri could control Melendez if he gets in close and forces takedowns. Melendez is incredibly hard to hold in one place, and Kawajiri will have to bring his A game if he is to stand a chance.
Lightweight (155 lbs)
[#3] Shinya Aoki (26 – 5 – 0) vs. [#64] Lyle Beerbohm (15 – 1 – 0)
Shinya Aoki is ranked at 3rd in the world for a reason, he is an absolute elite competitor at 155. Since defeating Bellator Lightweight champ [#5] Eddie Alvarez, Aoki has gone 8-2 against top flight competition such as [#9] Tatsuya Kawajiri, [#4] Gil Melendez, [#7] Joachim Hansen, and many others. His opponent, Lyle Beerbohm, has only gone the distance twice in his 15 wins. Beerbohm, although having just 1 loss atop his glossy 15 fight win streak, has considerably less experience than Aoki. Although Aoki will not get to wear his traditional long spats to aid him in submissions, Beerbohm’s only chance is to stand toe to toe with Aoki and defend the takedown throughout. Aoki is too savvy on the ground for Beerbohm to hang with him.
Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
[#9] Gegard Mousasi (30 – 3 – 1) vs. [#25] Keith Jardine (17 – 10 – 1)
Gegard Mousasi was seen as an invincible 205 lb champion before his decision loss to [#14] Mo Lawal in April 2010. Prior to that, Mousasi amassed a 15 fight win streak spanning nearly 3 ½ years. Mousasi has not fought in Strikeforce since losing the light heavyweight title to Lawal. After a massive 5 fight losing streak (4 in the UFC), Keith Jardine (a late replacement for the injured [#47HW] Mike Kyle) has faced less than stellar competition in his last two victories. Jardine will most likely look to stand and trade with Mousasi, exhibiting what many love to refer to as his “unorthodox” style. If he does this, Mousasi will surely punish him, and most likely score a knock out. However, if the fight goes to the ground, Mousasi has a distinct advantage as well. Basically, this is Mousasi’s fight to lose, and he realizes what is on the line. While being interviewed on the Sherdog Radio Network recently, he talked about the importance of winning against Jardine in order to set up a title fight with [#6] Dan Henderson. Mousasi stated that he would be a lot more attractive of a draw to the UFC as the Strikeforce light heavyweight champ. Jardine will need something special to come out victorious tonight.
Undercard
Featherweight (145 lbs)
[#2] Hiroyuki Takaya (15 – 8 – 1) vs. [#232] Robert Peralta (13 – 3 – 0)
Hiroyuki Takaya is on a 3 fight win streak, and has won 6 of his last 8 (5 by TKO or KO). After victories over top 145 talent like [#7] Joachim Hansen and [#8] Bibiano Fernandez, Takaya is considered to be the number 2 featherweight in the world behind [#1] Jose Aldo. Robert Peralta is on a 6 fight win streak, stopping all 6 opponents. 11 of his 13 wins come by way of TKO or KO, and he has only gone the distance once in his career. Could this be the coming out party for Peralta? It may not be likely, but anything is possible in MMA.
Heavyweight (265 lbs)
[#237] Virgil Zwicker (9 – 2 – 0) vs. [*] Brett Albee (3 – 0 – 0)
Virgil Zwicker is coming off a KO loss to Lavar Johnson in October 2010. Prior to his first loss to [*] Cody Goodale, Zwicker went undefeated in 8 fights, finishing all but one opponent. Brett Albee is relatively inactive, fighting once a year for the past 3 years. Continuing this trend, this will be his first fight of 2011. He is coming off a 14 month layoff, prior to which he scored a kimura submission over [*] Omar Jiminez.
Lightweight (155 lbs)
[#340] Saad Awad (8 – 3 – 0) vs. [*] Joe Duarte (5 – 2 – 0)
Saad Awad is coming off a victory, and is 3-2 in his last 5. He has fought (and lost to) notables such as WEC vet [#251] Karen Darabedyan and UFC competitor [#80FW] Nam Phan. 4 of his 8 wins come by way of submission. Joe Duarte had some buzz when he was on The Ultimate Fighter, but has been relatively inactive since then. Duarte is coming off a TKO loss to [#184LW] Carey Vanier in the Bellator cage, and has lost 2 of his last 3.
Other Fights
Middleweight (185 lbs)
[*] Casey Ryan (1 – 0 – 0) vs. [*] Paul Song (2 – 0 – 0)
Featherweight (145 lbs)
[*] Rolando Perez (5 – 4 – 1) vs. [*] Edgar Cardenas (3 – 0 – 0)