Strikeforce Nick Diaz vs. K.J. Noons 2: Don't Listen To 'Em, Diaz!

Strikeforce returns tonight on Showtime with another world class event, albeit a slightly abbreviated one, but nonetheless world class. The show takes place in San Jose's HP Pavilion (where the Sharks play!) and will begin at 7pm pacific,unless you're like me and have Comcast which won't be playing it until 10pm—someone explain the point of that to me!

In the main event is a rematch between Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and former foe K.J Noons. The first fight was a close and controversial one, with Noons winning after one round due to a somewhat pathetic doctor stoppage because of cuts over Diaz's eyes.

With this being the only MMA for the week, all media attention has turned to this fight and gave it the respect it deserves. It's a great bout and undoubtedly will be Diaz's toughest outing since signing to Strikeforce.

The general consensus from MMA observers, including Noons, is that Diaz needs to take this fight to the ground to win. Apparently, Noons considers himself just as bright of a prospect in boxing as he he does in MMA. He's even gone as far as to call out Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather after a win over MMA journeyman Yves Edwards back in EliteXC, despite holding a very modest 11-2 boxing record and having never fought more than a scheduled six-round match.

If that's not delusional, I'm unclear of the definition.

Basically, in boxing if you've already lost two fights and you're still stuck in the six-rounders, you're not yet a prospect. You are nothing. But in MMA, it sounds good to say you excel in both sports. It sounds so good that it has MMA reporters assuring the readers that Diaz has no chance in this fight if he plans to box with the boxer, ignoring the fact that Noons has been knocked out by journeyman Charles "Crazy Horse" Bennett in the first round of their stand-up affair back in EliteXC.

Diaz has been hearing this stuff his whole career.

His breakout performance in the UFC was against highly-touted striker Robbie Lawler in which everyone said he would have no chance on the feet and would be foolish to trade punches with Lawler.

What did he do? Traded punches with Lawler and knocked him out in the second round.

In his only Pride appearance, Diaz faced Pride's star slugger Takanori Gomi and once again was told he would have to take this fight to the ground to have a chance in the fight. Though Diaz did eventually submit Gomi, he stood with him for a round and a half and out-boxed the stand up fighter, quadrupling Gomi in the punch statistics.

So, is Noons a more dangerous fighter than either of them because he has won 11 of his 13 boxing matches against opponents with a combined record of 60-67-9? Not to mention, 13 of those wins came from one of the guys he lost to.

Hell, we can say Nick Diaz is an undefeated boxing prospect if we want to try and confuse people. He is 1-0 in boxing, after all.

If we want to reference the first fight, I would have to point out that Diaz landed more punches than Noons and the major cut that stopped the fight came from a Noons knee to Diaz's brow when he was attempting a take-down. If we base the game plan off of that, then Diaz should steer clear of the take-downs.

But before I get carried away, the point is that I don't see Diaz being the inferior striker here. Noons fought Conor Huen two fights ago in his Strikeforce debut. Huen is no Diaz on the feet and he stood with Noons the entire fight and lost a split-decision. In Noons' next fight, he faced human windmill Jorge Gurgel and only stopped him after dropping him with an illegal punch after the bell. Who knows, maybe Gurgel would have gone the distance if it wasn't for that illegal blow—OK, maybe not, but you get the point.

So, when you sit down to watch an excellent Strikeforce main event tonight on Showtime, don't be shocked to see Diaz doing just fine on his feet. I do think Diaz will go to the ground eventually, but Noons is no Andre Ward and Diaz is no Jorge Gurgel.