The main event at tomorrow night's Strikeforce is guaranteed to deliver a dramatic finish. Nick Diaz brings a classic volume boxing style to the cage against Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. Santos is your typical brawler, who swings from the hip. Someone is losing via KO or TKO. But as Cage Potato notes, the Diaz fight isn't the only thing that makes Strikeforce's latest offering intriguing. CP lists the other reasons to tune in:
Herschel Walker, Genetic Freak
[...] Did I mention he’s 48? Now, in MMA that may not seem special as we have our own version of a 48-year old wonder in Randy Couture, but Couture looks every year of 48. Walker, on the other hand, could pass for a man in his early 30s and has the physique that men in their athletic primes dream to attain. Herschel Walker, at 48, might be the greatest physical specimen to step foot in an MMA ring or cage…ever.
Roger Gracie, Ground Wizard
The Gracie name is synonymous with the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Their legacy extends back to the inaugural UFC some 17 years ago. [...] Fans of BJJ should take notice of his skills, especially when it gets to the ground…and if Gracie wants it to, it will. Gracie is only 28 years of age and still has a future in MMA and potential matchups at 205 with Dan Henderson, “King Mo” Lawal, and the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Rafael Cavalcante.
Momentum
Strikeforce has been able to pick up some much needed momentum after a subpar 2010. It began with the December 4th show that went up head-to-head with the UFC. Though the UFC show won the ratings war, Strikeforce had overwhelming shown itself as the better show that night. Then an announcement of a Heavyweight Tournament with 8 of the top 25 heavyweights in the world was made. [...] There’s a lot of momentum behind the Strikeforce brand, the question is, can they keep it up?
There's one more we'd like to add, regardless of a win or loss, Nick Diaz's postfight press conference comments are a must listen. He's been unbelievable in the lead up to the fight.
Diaz is tired of hearing about a possible against middleweight Jason Miller.
"I’d be happy to move up, I’d like to get paid for it you know? I don’t like how people try to say that I didn’t accept the fight with (Mayhem) Miller because I was too small. I never said anything about that," Diaz said. "I said if I’m going to go off track and screw with my whole season, it’s going to screw with my whole year, it’s going to screw with my capabilities of fighting at 170lbs. If I’m going to do that I’d like to get paid in full. I would like to have a reason for doing that. Not just do it at everybody else’s convenience.”
Diaz isn't making a ton of money for these fights and he's had enough.
“I’d like to get paid something extra. Double, triple, something crazy for me to do something extra that would screw up my weight to fight at that weight," Diaz said. "[...] “(Manny) Pacquaio’s making 40 [expletive] million dollars, GSP’s making a couple million dollars. I’m over here [expletive] driving a Honda and my [expletive] breaking down? [expletive] all you mother[expletive]."
Diaz is also tired of hearing about Georges St. Pierre's dominance.
"That’s what I’m saying. They’ve made easy fights for those guys. These guys have got like six or seven fights. Like all easy fights. I’ve never got to fight a guy like (Paul Daley) they brought into fight Josh Koscheck," Diaz said during the Strikeforce teleconference. "So when you bring up fighters like that and tell me they are the best fighters in the world it’s a [expletive] joke. Those guys are all ranked now but I was here first. So let’s fight then. Let’s make it happen, you know?"
According to Diaz, the UFC is propping up phony contenders for GSP.
“People think this guy is better than me and it’s [expletive]. He went five rounds with Josh Koscheck," Diaz said. "I just told you about Josh Koscheck, right? Why shouldn’t I get to fight him? Why are you saying he’s unavailable? Because we fight for different companies?”
We know Diaz is nutty, but this is where he has completely off his rocker. The fighter should be well aware of the fact that the UFC will never co-promote a fight with another organization. He was with the UFC in the past and is fully familiar with the ways of the powerful promotion. If his goal is to push for change, fine, but stop acting like this is boxing with promoters like Gary Shaw, Lou DiBella, Golden Boy, Top Rank and Don King working together on fights.
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