10 Thoughts From Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons 2

10 Things We Learned from Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons 2

The Maturation of Nick Diaz

Since emerging as the top welterweight under the Strikeforce banner, Nick Diaz has shown that he is a talented fighter who can dominate everyone in the organization at 170-pounds. Saturday night, Diaz showed that he’s growing into a fighter who might be able to hang with anyone in the welterweight ranks, regardless of organizational ties.

A fighter who wears his emotions on his sleeve, Diaz could have easily stepped in against K.J. Noons and thrown caution to the wind to get into a firefight with his arch rival. Instead, he fought a smart fight, sticking to the gameplan and using his length to pound out a unanimous decision win.

What makes this even better is that Diaz hasn’t changed outside of the cage; the outspoken, left-of-center character from the Cesar Gracie camp is as colorful as ever once the fight is done, but inside the cage, he’s doing what it takes to win every time and that is a sign of maturity.

Fight of the Year?

We’ve got ourselves a new horse in the Fight of the Year race.

As entertaining as Garcia vs. Jung was, the three-round preliminary affair was a sloppy slugfest, while Diaz and Noons put on a five-round championship clash with precise counters, quality boxing and enough showmanship to up the ante just enough.

Every outlet – and every journalist – will have their own opinion once the calendar changes to January, and for me, this is the leader at the head of the stretch.  This was a grudge match that lived up to the pre-fight hype, and was entertaining for 25 minutes.

A New Champion is Crowned

Marloes Coenen showed why Strikeforce gave the veteran Dutch grappler an immediate title shot on her first trip to the 135-pound division, forcing unbeaten defending champ Sarah Kaufman to tap to an armbar in the third round.

After being battered by Cristiane Santos in January, many wondered why the organization would tab Coenen as the next contender to face Kaufman, especially with Miesha Tate waiting in the wings. No one is questioning things now, as “Rumina” lasted through some tough moments with Kaufman raining down blows, securing an arm and submitting the Canadian.

Everybody Loses

While we all knew this well in advance of Saturday night’s fights, Kaufman’s first loss continues to illustrate how difficult it is to remain unbeaten in this sport.

Having stood at the top of the mountain, Kaufman is sure to come back an improved fighter for having gone through this. When that return will take place is up in the air, as Kaufman appeared to have injured her arm.

“JZ Calvan” Has Left the Building

When he started his career in Japan, Brazilian Gesias Cavalcante was billed as “JZ Calvan” and he was as exciting and dynamic a fighter as there was in the lightweight division. Numerous injuries to his knees have stripped Cavalcante of some of those dynamic skills, and “JZ Calvan” is no longer.

Cavalcante is still a solid addition to the Strikeforce lightweight division – with the lack of depth the organization has across the board, bringing in quality talents is always welcomed – but dynamic striking performances like we saw in his earlier days are not to be expected.

He’ll still put forth quality outings like he offered Saturday night against Thomson, it’s just too bad that North American fans will only get to hear about Cavalcante’s exploits in the ring, rather than seeing them firsthand.

Thomson Wins, Calls Out Melendez and Judges

Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson won a hard-fought battle against Gesias Cavalcante, then offered up a challenge to current champion Gilbert Melendez and those who judge this sport as an encore.

Thomson and Melendez have met twice before, splitting the two title contests. A trilogy bout was put on the back burner after Melendez unified the fragmented lightweight title last year, but with a pair of scrappy wins over quality opponents, Thomson is ready to settling things once and for all.

In addition to lobbying for a third bout with Melendez, Thomson called for improvements in judging. Usually something we hear from fighters who came out on the wrong side of the cards, Thomson earned the victory from all three judges, but still questioned what fight they were watching.

Not only does Thomson have a valid point – we all knew this already – but this is also a welcomed departure from the “it could have gone either way, it was a really close fight” we hear all too often from fighters.

Woodley Makes a Statement

After a dicey decision win over Nathan Coy last time out, Tyron Woodley needed an impressive performance to remind everyone that he is someone to watch in the welterweight division. Matched up with fellow prospect Andre Galvao in the opener, Woodley left no doubt that he is someone to watch.

Each time Galvao shot in for a takedown, Woodley stuffed the attempt and pounded on the seven-time Pan-Am Games gold medalist. The first two tries left Galvao woozy, the third brought the referee to his defense, handing Woodley an impressive first round finish.

The victory solidifies Woodley’s standing as one of the few home-grown talents emerging on the Strikeforce roster, and puts him in line for a more high-profile pairing in early 2011.

Another Grappling Star in Need of More Training

A lot was expected of Andre Galvao when he began competing in mixed martial arts. When you have you have 14 combined gold medals from Mundials and Pan-Am Games, you garner some attention entering the cage.

Thus far, it has been a disappointing experience for Galvao, who drops to 5-2 in his career. As we’ve seen too many times before, Galvao is another example of a world-class grappler who has little else to offer when Plan A goes out the window.

The days of one-dimensional fighters finding success at the higher levels are long gone. Strikers need to develop better grappling, and grapplers need to develop better striking.  Add Andre Galvao’s name to the list of examples of the latter.

Strikeforce in a Strange Position

The organization has said that they don’t view themselves as being in competition with the UFC, but regardless of what the company says, onlookers are always going to compare the San Jose-based outfit to the biggest brand in the business.

Unfortunately for Strikeforce, the comparison is far from favorable.

Veteran wrestling announcer and MMA fan Jim Ross nailed things, offering on Twitter that the “UFC’s production blows Showtime out of the water,” and that Strikeforce is stuck in a bad deal with the premium cable provider. They may not want the comparisons, but they’re coming anyway, and Strikeforce needs to do something about it.

On a Positive Note…

The announcing trio that manned the table Saturday night was the best combination put forth by Strikeforce to date, as the team of Mauro Ranallo, Frank Shamrock and Pat Miletich excelled.

Miletich might be the best color man in the business right now, a grizzled veteran of the sport who has seen and done it all, and offers his insights without a filter. He calls the action as he sees it and doesn’t dumb it down. While Shamrock can be insufferable at times, his very basic breakdowns are balanced out opposite Miletich and are less frequent with the absence of CBS play-by-play man Gus Johnson.

Ranallo showed his true strength calling the action, as well. Improperly cast as an analyst on misaligned CBS broadcasts, the Canadian announcer is best when describing the action and leaving the insights to his accomplices.

Imagine how great it would be if they bounced Shamrock in favor of “The Fight Professor” Stephan Quadros?