Two of the most controversial and talented fighter sin the world of welterweights will collide to see who will be the Strikeforce champion at 170 pounds. Nick Diaz, the current title holder, takes on Paul Daley in what is expected to be an epic battle between these two welterweight stars.

Paul Daley has the most feared lead left hook in the business. People know it’s coming, but don’t seem to be able to avoid the sting of that anesthetic-agent-like strike he has perfected. To be able to face-plant an iron-chinned warrior like Scott Smith is a definitely something that makes you worth as one of the top KO artists in the game. Indeed Daley is one of said “arteests.” The big question question is how he will be able to do in the other areas of the game.

Nick Diaz is an exceptionally well-rounded fighter. His boxing is tremendous, he can take a punch, and he has fantastic grappling and unending cardio. Plus, just like his foe across the cage on April 9th, he’s just a natural fighter. One of the things that Diaz doesn’t have world-class level skills in is wrestling, however his tenacity and training allows him to find a way to get fighters to the mat if he wants to, and get the job done there, should he not knock them out first.

In this fight with Daley, both fighters have the ability to outstrike the other, but Daley is definitely the more dangerous of the duo as he has shown a very strong propensity to smash his opponents skulls into unconsciousness. Diaz has shown a similar skillset, however it’s more of a non-stop-barrage of blows via the fists of Diaz which tends to end things for his opponents, as opposed to a single-shot that doubles over Daley’s adversaries.

On the ground Diaz has a huge edge in skill. The hard part will be getting Daley down to the floor. He won’t go down easy, but I think the tenacious nature of the Stockdown brawler, in addition to his cardio, which is enhanced by his part-time hobby of being a triathlete when he’s not being an MMA fighter, will allow Diaz to weather the British storm in the Strikeforce hexagonal cage, and eventually get things to the ground.

The most interesting part of this duel will definitely be the striking portion of it. On the ground there’s a good chance it’ll be a very one sided affair for Diaz. But on the feet it could go back and forth, and there’s always that one-punch KO power of Daley which makes things all the more exhilarating to watch.

Could go either way, but the well-roundedness of Diaz in addition to his extreme cardio that makes going 25 minutes in an MMA fight a breeze, should lead him to once again come out on top in the main event of Strikeforce’s first card of the Spring, and inaugural show under the Zuffa umbrella.

NICK DIAZ DOMINATES FRANK SHAMROCK,
 GILBERT MELENDEZ WINS INTERIM STRIKEFORCE BELT,
 SMITH, ROGERS, CYBORG ALSO VICTORIOUS

Mixed martial arts made a smashing return to premium network television Saturday with a scintillating fight card that featured heaps of strikes, kicks, drama, unbelievable comebacks and a brilliant, poised, victorious performance by Nick Diaz

Photo: Tom Casino/Strikeforce

In a dominant outing in which he was in control throughout, Diaz (19-7, 1 NC) of Stockton, Calif., made good on his vow, and impressively knocked out legendary MMA pioneer and local favorite Frank Shamrock before an enthusiastic crowd of 15,211 at HP Pavilion.

A Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Diaz took apart Shamrock with seeming ease. He whipped Shamrock on the ground and at the veteran’s game – on the feet. The fight was stopped at 3:57 of the second round with Diaz reigning punches with both hands on a fallen, helpless Shamrock.

At times, Diaz seemed to be toying, even mocking Shamrock. Twice, Diaz, who was moving up to compete at a catch-weight 179 pounds, took side-control, a dominant position, but Shamrock fought his way out on both occasions.

 Shamrock (24-9-2), however, could not get inside Diaz’ long reach and wound up getting pummeled. How bad a night was it for the hometown favorite? Shamrock may not have even won the battle of introductions in a fight in his hometown.

Shamrock will be back, though, he says, and so, of course, will Diaz.

In other televised fights, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez captured the interim Strikeforce lightweight championship with a second-round knockout over Rodrigo Damm, Scott Smith rallied from the brink of defeat to register a stunning third-round knockout over Benji Radach in a brutal battle of determined, heavy-handed middleweights, Cris “Cyborg” Santos knocked out Hitomi Akano in the third round of a women’s match and Brett Rogers scored a crowd-pleasing second-round TKO over  “Abongo” Humphrey in a hard-fought matchup of unbeaten heavyweights