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Strikeforce
STRIKEFORCE: MIAMI RESULTS: Nick Diaz knocks out DREAM headkick KO kingpin Marius Zaromskis to become first Strikeforce Welterweight Champion
Jan 31, 2010 - 12:17:32 PM BY JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A wild headliner at Strikeforce: Miami on Showtime Saturday night came to an end at 4:38 of the first round when the 95th strike landed by Nick Diaz sent Marius Zaromskis to the canvas. The DREAM Welterweight Champion had put up a good fight to that point, but the reach advantage and boxing acumen of Diaz ultimately proved to be the x factor in this one.
Early in the fight Diaz employed a very smart strategy after Zaromskis got past his reach to land a couple of combinations. He shot in for a single leg and drove Zaromskis to the cage, where he spent thirty seconds driving knees to Zaromskis' right thigh. After the damage was done, he completed the takedown briefly before Zaromskis got back to his feet.
Then the fight took a turn when Zaromskis rocked Diaz with a left hook and sent him stumbling to the canvas. He landed a hammerfist on the way down but Diaz covered up and got to his knees. Zaromskis was unable to finish at this point and it proved to be his downfall, as Diaz recovered and took over from there once he got back to a standing position.
Diaz kicked up the offensive output from there, finding his range with his strikes and keeping Zaromskis at bay with his reach advantage. He peppered Zaromskis with very accurate shots, continually jarring his opponent with punches to the head. After an extended period of staying on Zaromskis around the cage with his strikes, he finally unloaded a big right that dropped Zaromskis and it was all over.
The accuracy displayed by Diaz was apparent in the CompuStrike stats following the bout, as Diaz landed an astonishing 95 strikes of the 117 he threw. That was 49 punches landed of 70 thrown, and 46 kicks landed of 47. It was a classic Nick Diaz performance and he rode it to victory to become a Champion, before disparaging the welterweight division in Strikeforce and balking at the notion that he has any challengers in the division. For Saturday, however, it was Nick Diaz winning yet another fight in spectacular fashion to cap off another enjoyable Strikeforce on Showtime event.
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"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
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