Growing up my favorite video games were Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I loved the idea of having two warriors with certain skill sets fight each other one on one. This is one of the things that attracted me to MMA. It was just like a live version of those amazing video games. Two warriors with different fighting styles, competing to see which style was better. It was the ultimate showcase of fighting, to see which style was the best among the others. The fighters were not only fighting for themselves but for every person who practiced their discipline. Every person wanted to know what the best martial arts style was and the very first UFC’s offered that. It was like a live version of the Mortal Kombat tournament, style vs. style, fire vs. ice, Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero, Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock.
Now the sport has grown up, and her combatants are so disciplined that it has become necessary for all martial artists to know every style effectively. And while every style is known, there are only few participants who are masters of a craft and on a different level than the rest. We can think of these men as the final bosses in a video game. In Ju-jitsu there are the Gracies, Muai Thai has Anderson Silva, Sambo has Fedor Emilenanko, kickboxing had Mirko Cro Cop and now features Alistair Overeem, wrestling has Georges St. Pierre and karate boasts Lyoto Machida. The one main style not mentioned is the style which America knows best: Boxing. Boxing is a sweet science and most students who study boxing in America, end up dedicating themselves to it and become professional boxers. Now the new breed of MMA is taking over and finally boxing is being utilized in the octagon. Recently we saw Georges St. Pierre use crisp jabs to completely shut Josh Koschecks’ eye in December. The damage done by St. Pierre’s pure boxing was so effective it required Koshcheck to undergo surgery on his orbital bone. On Saturday night we saw boxing showcased again as Nick Diaz utilized his boxing to perfection in his second round submission win over Evangilista “Cyborg” Santos.
Diaz mentioned before the fight, he would like to compete in a boxing ring soon and he showed us all why on Saturday. His boxing was so crisp that in my opinion, he made a name for himself as a master of the style.. His attack was constant with punches flying from every angle multiple times landing every time on Cyborg’s chin or body. The highlight of the fight for me was after Diaz blocked a Chute Boxe style attack from Cyborg he pushed forward backing Cyborg up to the cage and firing boxing combinations with such precision and accuracy that Cyborg had no choice but to just weather the storm and cover up. It was without a doubt the best utilization of boxing technique I have ever seen in MMA. Diaz landed ten clean unanswered combinations from every angle to the head of Cyborg before hitting Cyborg’s body with six hooks ending the combination with a clean right hook to Cyborg’s jaw. The technique Diaz displayed was flawless and mere perfection. Diaz trains with professional boxers on a daily occasion and his hard work shined during this fight. The performance was so good that I would feel confident placing good money on Diaz if he did compete in a boxing match soon, with Fernando Vargas’ name being mentioned as a possible opponent.
However, Saturday nights Strikeforce event was not a boxing match it was a mixed martial arts fight, and anytime Nick Diaz is billed on the card, you can expect a real fight. Diaz is always pushing the pace, and attacking no matter what you throw at him. In the first round, Cyborg landed thunderous vicious leg kicks that almost put Diaz on the floor, but Diaz continued to be the aggressor and kept coming forward reminiscent of a zombie. It is the fact that he is willing to take punishment to hand out punishment that makes Diaz such an exciting fighter. Another reason is his pressure breaking style. On the feet he throws bunches in punches, hitting his opponent numerous times zapping their energy bar. Under this relentless pressure, his opponents usually give up and fall or make the mistake of trying to take Diaz to the ground. As amazing as Diaz’ boxing skills are, his Ju-jitsu skills are on another level. Trained under Cesar Gracie, Diaz is one of the best Ju-jitsu practitioners, and watching his ground game is a work of beauty. After another vicious Diaz combination, an exhausted Cyborg brought the fight to the ground with half a minute left in the second round. As soon as the fight went south, Diaz instantly threw his legs up over Cyborgs’ face, changed angles right away, spun underneath Cyborg coming out the backdoor. Then with his free hand Diaz hooked Cyborgs shin bone and threw his legs over, spinning Cyborg and putting him hopelessly on his back. Diaz hit him a couple times before finally flexing back and torque Cyborgs’ arm causing an immediate tap out with ten seconds remaining in the round. It was so breathtakingly fast that my jaw was left wipe open at the sheer flawlessness at the execution of the move. To make matters more impressive was that Diaz did this to a fellow highly ranked BJJ black belt. After the fight Diaz explained his style best, saying “I’m going to put punches in, you’re going to have to throw me down and I’m a Ju-jitsu fighter, a black belt under Cesar Gracie.”
Nick Diaz once again proved that he deserves much more respect than he currently receives in the MMA community. He is without a doubt a top ranked Welterweight and could arguably be considered in top five pound for pound rankings. It is the fact that he does not fight for the UFC which ultimately hurts Diaz the most. Matchups with high ranked guys such as Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and UFC champion Georges St. Pierre would not only be dream matchups but would also be a better indication of Diaz’ skills. However, as long as Diaz is under Strikeforce contract, which will be for the foreseeable future, these fights are impossible. Still a matchup with GSP is something I would really love to see since it would host the two best boxers in the sport against one another in my opinion. I believe the standup game would be even, possibly giving Diaz the advantage for his boxing pressure. I think, GSP would fold under the constant attack, eventually resorting to his wrestling, taking the fight to the ground. The ground game would be a whole new chess match, since GSP has never faced anyone of Diaz’ caliber and St. Pierre would have to be very careful not to get caught in one of Diaz’ crafty submissions. This is the fight I would really love to see before GSP hangs up his gloves at welterweight for new beginnings in the middleweight division. It is a shame that it most likely won’t happen in the near future, since it would clearly show who the best 170 pound fighter in the world truly is.
In conclusion, Saturday night was a clear indication that Nick Diaz is as real as it gets when it comes to cage fighting. His performance left no doubt that he was the real Strikeforce champion and a force to be reckoned with in the welterweight rankings. Diaz brings back the fun part of fighting, having no problem making the fight personal and trash talking but afterwards always being humble and respective towards his opponents. His old school approach to martial arts is something I deeply admire and it is why he is one of my personal favorite fighters in MMA today.
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