Nick Diaz has called out UFC fighters like Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva in the past. While most people think he's clear below that tier of fighter, he clearly made a statement Saturday night.
It included taking care of challenger from for his Strikeforce welterweight title, Paul Daley, by knockout. In the first "Arena Series" card produced by Strikeforce and Showtime since the Zuffa takeover and with UFC President Dana White and Co-Owner Lorenzo Fertitta amongst the attendees, Diaz showed a lot of patience, standing and trading with Daley, weathering an early storm from the Brit and unleashing his own flurry, peppering "Semtex" with shots and combinations. A "phantom strike" from Diaz following a scramble put Daley on Dream Street, with Diaz swarming with mop up punches, forcing legendary referee "Big" John McCarthy to call a stop to the action with just 3 seconds left in the opening round.
Afterward, a real grounded Diaz merely said "We've got to see what's up. I need to get paid."
Next for Diaz : He's won 9 in a row and is clearly on a roll. If Dan Hardy wants to prove he belongs in "The Show", please make him cross over and see what he could do against the Californian.
Next for Daley : a loss snaps what was a 4 fight winning streak. Had he won, it clearly would have been argued he belongs in the upper crust of Welterweights. Perhaps Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos.
Gegard Mousasi and Keith Jardine clearly was a battle for 3 rounds. Taking the fight on barely a week's notice, "The Dean Of Mean" showed a lot of grit and determination, standing and trading with the Armenian and controlling him in the takedown department, getting 4 of 5 in the first round, although he wasn't able to do much with them. With a minute left in the opening round, The man known as "Dreamcatcher" was deducted a point following a scramble with an upkick to a down opponent. With that, Mousasi knew he head to push the pace to earn the victory. The last 10 minutes of the fight, Mousasi dominated, peppering in the clinch and hurting the overwhelmed Jardine, though it wasn't enough to convince the judges of his transgression and it ended a majority draw, with the judges scoring it 29-27 for Mousasi and 28-28 twice.
Neither was satisfied with the result, Mousasi saying of the ill-timed foul "It happens. In the heat of the moment, I did what I did", and Jardine blaming his performance over the last 2 rounds as " "I got tired. I guess that's what training camp's for.", comparing the result as "like kissing your sister".
Next for Mousasi : His takedown defense clearly needs some improvement. I still think he could compete against the likes of Nate Marquardt, but he's got to improve substantially with his wrestling. That fight with Mike Kyle looks more appealing.
Next for Jardine : Showed a lot of heart and I think he deserves one more fight with Strikeforce. Either a fight with former Light Heavyweight champions "King Mo" Lawal or "Feijao" Cavalcante.
Honorable Mention : Diaz may have had the clear highlight of the card with his KO, his teammate Gilbert Melendez perhaps made the biggest statement of the night with his first round pasting of Japanese fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri. While its not a relevant top 10 lightweight, Melendez swarmed his opponent from the get-go and the former PRIDE fighter was never in the fight, as the Cesar Gracie fighter improved to 19-2 via a first round TKO. Afterward, he called out the lightweight fighters in the UFC and declared himself the "best lightweight in the world", But I wonder what might happen if he took a step up in name like a Clay Guida or a Ben Henderson. I wasn't interested in his fight at all, but that KO really did make me step up and take notice.
Also Shinya Aoki, no doubt fighting for the fans in Japan who have been through a pair of Earthquakes and the end of their age of Mixed Martial arts with a neck crank victory. While he'll never be in my good books, It was nice for him to be a hero, for just one day.
Also, did anybody else notice the ref for the Jardine/Mousasi fight looked like Yosemite Sam without the hat?
Finished undefeated for my picks, going 1-0-1, which brings me up for a 15-13-2 for the year.
Get back to me via e-mail, mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com or leave a comment on here.
Until next time, fight fans.
Nice recap Hood.
ReplyDelete-Aoki has just saved his career.
-Still not impressed with Melendez. Maybe its the hair.
-Diaz needs competition. Diaz will never take a fight with a 3-fight losing streak Hardy unless its for mucho diniero.
-Respect to Jardine for making it a war. Some say Moussassi looked slow, but i disagree. He beat the crap out of Jardine who seemed to get a second wind after gassing the first. Moussassi needs to start training more in US and learning the rules.
-Just read Hendo vs Fedor for June/July SF event.
Starz
I don't know. I said I still consider Melendez a #9 fighter in a top 10 list. I still think Edgar, Alvarez, Pettis, Maynard, Henderson, Guida (though he beat Guida years ago, I'd give the carpenter more of a work rate and strength of opponents), even Penn and you might be able to slide the winner of the Bellator season lightweight tourney in there. He's battling with Aoki for #10 slot.
ReplyDeleteYeah I read about the Fedor/Hendo fight. Yawn. Why would they give him a title shot after he's lost 2 in a row? It doesn't make sense. All I can hope is for that vintage Fedor to return, but I still can't see it happening at all. Still think Couture is a better matchup, but what do I know?