Strikeforce Recap/Analysis: Diaz, Santos Leave Champs, Walker Victorious
Even though the focus going into Saturday's Strikeforce event was squarely on Herschel Walker's pro debut, it was Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler that came out of the event as the big stars thanks to two impressive first-round victories.
But Walker was a focal point of the evening, dominating Greg Nagy on the way to a third round TKO victory and earning the respect of a lot of people who thought it was all a publicity stunt.
For the details on the entire night - including Lawler's highlight reel KO of Melvin Manhoef and the promotional debut for Bobby Lashley—read on for the full recap of Strikeforce: Miami!
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Vacant Welterweight Championship: Nick Diaz def. Marius Zaromskis via first round TKO (4:38)
Diaz continued his roll by outlasting the fists of Zaromskis and showing off some continually improving striking of his own to win the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight title, his sixth straight win.
It was a slugfest early on with both guys swinging away, but Diaz eventually pinned Zaromskis up against the cage, content to drive knees into his leg to neutralize the awesome leg kick power of the Lithuanian.
Zaromskis did knock Diaz down with a strike and went into attack mode, but Diaz was able to fend him off and collect himself as Zaromskis went to the ground instead of letting him back up to trade.
The striking work that Diaz is doing with pro boxers is showing as he put on a clinic with uppercuts and precise body shots to a weakened Zaromskis. The end came when Diaz connected on a short right hook that dropped Zaromskis to his knees, causing the ref to call for the finish.
It was the punctuation on a Diaz striking sequence, who landed 95 of 117 strikes and 46 of 47 leg strikes.
Where Diaz goes from here will be interesting. He's one of the sport's most polarizing figures and there is always the question of whether he will pass the state drug tests.
Diaz doesn't seem interested in fighting Jay Hieron, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that DREAM fighter Hayoto Sakurai will likely be next in line for Diaz. The 34-year-old Sakurai has lost two straight, including one to Zaromskis.
Women's Lightweight Championship: Cris Cyborg (c) def. Marloes Coenen by third round TKO (3:40)
I didn't feel like the championship was pushed hard enough as I didn't hear Jimmy Lennon mention during his intros that the bout was for the title. The crowd was really flat for this one, and the announce team was easily the most excited guys in the whole building at the finish.
Cyborg dominated a game Coenen who was just good enough to survive the onslaught but not good enough to do any damage. The one defining moment was the clean right Coenen landed on Cyborg's chin in the third round that the champion simply shrugged off, unfazed and set to go about her business.
Throughout the fight, she controlled Coenen and didn't let her work in any submissions, even when it went to the ground.
Erin Toughill will get the next crack at taking down the beast and Coker said there will be an eight-woman tournament later on this year to determine the next No. 1 contender. Good luck.
Herschel Walker def. Greg Nagy via third round TKO (2:17)
This was exactly what you'd expect from two guys with a combined two professional fights. From the get-go, Nagy looked overwhelmed with everything and was zombie-like heading to the cage.
Walker managed to get through the first round by controlling Nagy on the ground and getting into some unique mount positions. A physical specimen, Walker used his upper-body advantage to wrestle Nagy but couldn't make the transition into attack mode.
I thought there were several times when ref Troy Waugh could have stood them up as there were minutes that went by where nothing was happening on the mat. Nagy looked deflated in the second round and that led to his eventual demise as he just stopped fighting back when Walker had him flattened.
Walker didn't exactly have pinpoint striking by any means but did enough to win, bloodying up Nagy's face without getting a scratch on him.
Nagy threw just 36 punches in the fight, landing just seven. Ugh. My guess is that we won't be seeing him on the main stage anytime soon.
If this wasn't Walker, we'd be calling this a bland fight. But the fact that a 47-year-old retired football player with some martial arts experience and a heart the size of Georgia went in there and did what he had to do to win made it feel a little more important.
Again, the crowd was flat for the fight and was content to sit down and not add that extra element for those of us watching at home. Mauro Ranallo, Stephen Quadros and Frank Shamrock earned their money for sure.
Who knows if Walker will want to do this again, but I hope he does. I'd like to see how he can progress and improve on this performance. As he's got a full-time business though, you wonder if this was a done-in-one situation—leaving this as just another impressive athletic achievement for a man that has plenty of them.
Robbie Lawler def. Melvin Manhoef via first round KO (3:33)
If Strikeforce gave out a Fight Of The Night honor, it would have gone to Lawler and Manhoef who put on a great effort here.
Manhoef was in control early with HELLACIOUS kicks that had Lawler's right leg flying up at all kinds of different angles.
Early on, this was similar to Slice vs. Alexander in that both guys were just circling and circling, waiting for the right time to strike. Manhoef was content to throw kicks and then follow up with flurries of punches.
As he went in for the kill, he dropped his left hand and Lawler saw the opening. He threw an overhand right that hit the spot and followed with two more shots that had Manhoef's eyes rolling into the back of his head and blood streaming on his face.
Post-fight, Lawler was limping quite badly and didn't really want to talk about a rematch with Jake Shields as fighting was the last thing on his mind. You have to think that he's in the mix for the winner of Shields/Henderson following this highlight reel KO. Manhoef will be back, but will have this ending to live down.
Bobby Lashley def. Wes Sims by first round TKO (2:06)
Man, Lashley is a HUGE dude. The finish here wasn't spectacular which was a trend through most of the fights. Sims didn't have much offense against Lashley and looked like a guy who took a fight on short notice.
Lashley was connecting on one too many shots for the ref to not call this off, even though Sims complained afterward. Initially, it seemed like he had a point, but upon watching replays, it was hard to argue as Sims went flat on his stomach and wasn't "intelligently" defending himself.
It would have been great for Strikeforce to have a decisive finish. Lashley dominated, but the crowd wasn't into this and the end felt flat.
Coker said he'd like to pair Lashley up against Brett Rogers which would seem to go against Lashley's plan to fight a few more similarly experienced fighters until he gets to eight or nine pro fights. Regardless, I think that would be a fun fight.
Notes
- Shinya Aoki vs. Gilbert Melendez will happen before summer.
- New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was in the house and got booed heavily doing an interview for Showtime. He got in some hot water for flipping off some fans later on that night.
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