Strikeforce competitors Nick Diaz, Marius Zaromskis, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen participated in a media conference call today to discuss their upcoming bouts on the Jan. 30 “Strikeforce: Miami” show.
The highlight of the entire call, perhaps, was when Zaromskis fielded his first question by answering in English. A Strikeforce public relations staffer then asked his translator to translate the remarks for the media. “What do you want me to do? He already answered the question in English,” said the translator.
Technical gaffes aside, the card focused almost solely on the four competitors taking place in the call.
Diaz will be dropping back to the welterweight division for his bout against Zaromskis, and he says he’s comfortable with the change. “I feel the best at that weight,” said Diaz. “This has been my weight class for a long time. Those last few fights (at middleweight) weren’t my idea, you know? I’m happy to be back at welterweight.”
Surprisingly, Diaz refused to be baited into a war of words with Jay Hieron, who has recently stated that Diaz is avoiding a bout with him. “I’m just fighting who they want me to fight. That’s how it is,” said Diaz. “I can open my mouth and start talking about other fighters, too. I can call Georges St. Pierre a pussy, but we know that’s not actually how it is.”
Diaz said he anticipated facing Hieron in the future.
There have been many questions as to why Zaromskis was able to jump to the front of the welterweight pack and land a title short before other deserving contenders did. Jay Hieron has noted that he wouldn’t fight Zaromskis because the Lithuanian striker doesn’t have enough name value. “If Jay Hieron doesn’t think I have a big enough name, he can wait until I beat everyone,” said Zaromskis through a translator. “Then I’ll have a big enough name, and he can fight me.”
Santos, who battered Gina Carano last year to capture the Strikeforce women’s 145lb championship, said that she was not concerned about being considered the face of women’s mixed martial arts. She passed on questions regarding her interest in posing for Playboy, only saying that she was “horrified” to discover that everybody knew about it.
Coenen agreed with her opponent, saying that she envisioned a day when people didn’t mention the beauty of female fighters at all because they’re simply too focused on talking about their skill in the ring or cage. She also envisions a day when girls began training in all aspects of mixed martial arts at a very young age, making the talent level that much higher as they get older and continue in the sport.
Nick Diaz faces Marius Zaromskis at “Strikeforce: Miami” for the Strikeforce welterweight championship, while Cyborg Santos defends her 145lb women’s championship against Marloes Coenen.
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