Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz
What we learned from the Strikeforce event on Saturday
Diaz is Unstoppable… in Strikeforce
Once again, Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz added a tick to his win column, defending his 170-pound title with a second-round submission win over Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. In defeating Santos, Diaz continued to show that he is without competition competing under the Strikeforce banner.
The best Santos had was a puncher’s chance, and Diaz showed that chance wasn’t all that good by walking through some of the Brazilian’s best power shots early. From the midway point of the opening round, it was a typical Diaz fight, with the champion picking apart Santos and avoiding any real damage. When it went to the mat midway through the second round, you could sense the end was near, and it was.
Diaz is without question the top welterweight in the company and he’s head-and-shoulders above whoever they try to throw at him next. Paul Daley is a one-dimensional striker whose explosive power is rendered useless on the ground, and while Tyron Woodley is a talented, emerging prospect, he’s not quite ready to face a challenge like Diaz.
With friend and teammate Jake Shields no longer holding the middleweight title, perhaps it’s time for Diaz, a man who is always looking to challenge himself in new ways, to step back up the ladder and try his hands in the 185-pound ranks.
Talented? Yes. Top 5? Not So Much.
I’ll get into great detail on this one elsewhere on Heavy MMA, but here’s the quick version: Nick Diaz is not a Top 5 welterweight.
Please go read my full-length editorial for the complete breakdown.
“Jacare” Continues to Develop
Despite being the Strikeforce middleweight champion, Ronaldo Souza is still a work-in-progress inside the cage, and he took another step forward Saturday night in San Jose.
Robbie Lawler was the most powerful striker that Souza has faced to date, a guy who has made a living delivering highlight reel finishes with his fist. “Jacare” tasted that power in the opening round, and while he clearly rocked and wobbled by Lawler’s onslaught, surviving the scare is another step forward in the development of the 185-pound champion.
Part of Souza’s ability to survive should be credited to Lawler, who made the mistake of following “Jacare” to the ground when he was dazed; with Lawler in his guard, Souza was able to close up and recover, riding out the closing stages of the round safely on the ground. That being said, the Brazilian bounced back well between rounds and dominated the action from that point forward, keeping Lawler with his back pressed into the canvas the rest of the way. Instead of simply being happy with positional control and time to fish for submissions, Souza showed improved offence on the ground as well, laying down strikes on a prone Lawler for most of the second round.
By the time they hit the floor in the third, Lawler was already beaten and gave up his back. Souza acted quickly and precisely, sinking in a rear naked choke and earning the victory. While it will look like just another win on his resume, this was a chance for “Jacare” to continue his development as a mixed martial artist, and that is exactly what he did.
Unnecessary Titles
Heavy MMA editor-in-chief Matt Brown has long discussed his belief that Strikeforce doesn’t need titles, insisting they would be better off doing away with the gold, telling fans they’re in the business of making fun, entertaining fights and proceeding down that road. Saturday night showed that his blueprint might be the best course of action for the company.
Neither Lawler or Cyborg should have been fighting for a championship belt; they’re both powerful strikers who have ended fights with one blow, but neither had done enough to truly merit an opportunity to win gold. That being said, both helped deliver highly-entertaining bouts, which is why they were fighting in the first place. If you’re willing to risk putting your championship around the waist of a somewhat undeserving contender, why bother having the belts in the first place?
These were two entertaining fights and really the only options available in the welterweight and middleweight divisions, a point that highlights the fact that Strikeforce simply doesn’t have the depth of talent to allow fighters to earn their way into title contention. Right now, they’re relying on the few marketable names they have and doing the best with what they have, and it has been working well as of late, but that’s no guarantee that it will keep proving successful.
Instead of trying to pump up a one-dimensional Lawler coming off a special delivery destruction of Matt Lindland or awarding your female superstar’s husband a crack at championship gold after one fight at welterweight, why not just scrap the belts and keep making fun fights? That’s what Strikeforce has really been doing all along, so why not just make it official?
The Herschel Walker Dilemma
Legendary football star-turned-MMA neophyte Herschel Walker turned in an impressive performance on Saturday night, sending Scott Carson to the canvas early and pounding his way to a first-round stoppage victory.
The win leaves Walker at an interesting crossroads.
If he continues to compete, a decision he leaves in the hands of the team at AKA, a step up in competition is mandatory. He can no longer fight guys who have been on the sidelines selling insurance for five or six years; active, somewhat successful regional fighters are a must from here on out. Additionally, the novelty of Walker taking to the cage has already started to wear off, as far fewer outlets covered his second fight than did his debut.
But the decision to continue competing isn’t a sure thing, either. Walker has said that he knows his time competing is limited and that he wants to embrace an ambassador role moving forward, so perhaps that time is now? He’s gained first-hand experience competing and training, and remains a well-respected figure in the sports community as a whole, so the timing to continue his campaigning for MMA outside of the cage might be upon us.
What to Make of Roger Gracie?
The grandson of the legendary Carlos Gracie earned his fourth consecutive submission win on Saturday night, sinking in a rear naked choke on his most experienced and talented opponent to date, Trevor Prangley, in the opening bout of the Showtime broadcast.
There is a lot of debate as to what, if anything, Gracie’s win over Prangley means for his prospects as a contender in the light heavyweight division. Much like Nick Diaz’s success has to be examined in the context of who he’s fighting and where he fights, the same holds true for Roger Gracie.
While his toolbox is still missing some key essentials, Gracie’s otherwordly jiu jitsu puts him in the mix in the Strikeforce 205-pound division. The key here is that we’re talking about Strikeforce.
If he were to defect to the UFC, Gracie gets eaten alive, but in a division where Antwain Britt was a win away from a title shot, “King Mo” won the belt because then-champion Gegard Mousasi had zero takedown defence, and Ovince St. Preux is considered an exciting prospect, Gracie fits in quite nicely. Additionally, it’s not like we haven’t seen elite jiu jitsu players rise through the ranks on the strength of the grappling skills alone before.
Demian Maia has never been much more than a jiu jitsu wizard with rudimentary stand-up, but he climbed to the Top 5 of the UFC middleweight division and a championship bout opposite Anderson Silva. “Jacare” has gone one better by winning middleweight gold with Strikeforce; while he’s a more complete athlete than Maia, it’s not as if Souza is knocking people out either.
For now, Gracie has proven a lot of people wrong by submitting Prangley, and he did so in quick and dominant fashion. Until his next opponent is announced, that will have to do.
Production Problems, Part I
Strikeforce has got to do something about their announce team. I know it has been said before, but it bears repeating.
Frank Shamrock brings nothing to the booth. You can argue that he dumbs it down for the casual fans, but why bother? The action essentially speaks for itself, and when the self-nicknamed “Legend” wants to ask Pat Miletich if “Jacare” beating Lawler is considered an upset, there is no way to take him seriously.
The countless references to Nick Diaz beating him up are both bad and good to me. While I despise self-referential doofuses, it also triggers my memory of watching Shamrock get beaten up, and that part is great.
Mauro Ranallo is too much to handle. The more I listen to him, the more I turn down the volume. ZING! Thank you folks, I’m here all night. Tip your waitress. Try the veal.
But seriously, the more I listen to him, the more I think “Boom goes the dynamite!” mixed with hyper-elitism; he wants every minor movement to be a major overture and turning point, and his insistence on saying “mata leon” everytime someone uses a rear naked choke is pointless; anyone who knows that term doesn’t need the commentary, and those listening to his call have no idea what he’s talking about anyway.
And don’t even get me started on Jimmy Lennon Jr.
Production Problems, Part II
Last night’s broadcast had run its course by 8:30 PST, leaving an hour of airtime available. Do you think Strikeforce took that opportunity to showcase some of the impressive finishes and potential stars from the undercard?
Nope, and it makes no sense.
Maybe there are elements to their contract with Showtime that preclude them from doing so, but when 60 minutes of TV time dedicated to your programming is available, shouldn’t you be able to show your program? Instead, it was off the air with the broadcast, leaving the undercard excitement unaired to the masses, squandering a chance to show Nate Moore’s impressive knockout of Nathan Coy or Germaine de Randamie’s knockout of Stephanie Webber.
You can’t build stars if you’re never giving them any exposure, and having already brought an audience to your show, forgoing a chance to do just that with a spare 60 minutes of airtime is a poor decision.
Production Problems, Part III
I know this looks like me picking on Strikeforce, and there might be a modicum of truth to that; I don’t adhere to the “if you don’t have anything good to say” adage because many important lessons can be learned by listening to your critics. Trust me.
Maybe I’m holding them to unattainable standards, but the overall delivery of this event was AAA. When my wife looks at the television and remarks, “Everything about it just seems second-rate,” you know there is serious room for improvement.
If you’re going to introduce fighters as they come out form the back, don’t have them standing on the ramp waiting to hear their names called; either keep them behind the curtain or follow them from their dressing room. Watching Herschel Walker and Robbie Lawler pace in place was annoying.
Yes, the UFC has set a lofty standard and Strikeforce hasn’t had nearly as much experience in putting on large scale events, but that only holds weight for so long; at some point, they need to iron out the wrinkles. So far, they’ve shown no interest in becoming wrinkle-free, and it takes away from the high points of their programs.
All That Being Said…
I’m really excited for the Strikeforce schedule this year.
Diaz has established himself as one of the very best fighters competing outside of the UFC, the Heavyweight Grand Prix is bound to produce some excitement, and the company’s continued willingness to put together entertaining fights has me looking forward to their upcoming schedule. Now if they could just do something with their overall production, we’d be in serious business.