Strikeforce ‘Miami’ Preview
Diaz vs. Zaromskis
Jan 29, 2010
Looking for a card that captures the matchmaking dichotomy of a
certain San Jose, Calif.-based promotion? Look no further than
Strikeforce
“Miami” this Saturday at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise,
Fla.
The most intriguing and perhaps most important bit of business features Nick Diaz going against Lithuanian head kick connoisseur Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. Backing up that quality violence, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos makes the first defense of her women’s middleweight championship, while Robbie Lawler and Melvin Manhoef lock horns in a full-scale recreation of “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.”
In addition to those compelling bouts, we have the professional
mixed martial arts debut of former NFL running back and human
push-up machine Herschel
Walker, as well as World Wrestling Entertainment convert
Bobby
Lashley and his fight with Wes Sims on a
week’s notice. This should be interesting.
Strikeforce Welterweight Championship
Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis
The most glaring flaw in Diaz’s striking remains his poor movement, which will leave him vulnerable against Zaromskis, who almost always attacks at an angle. Just as troubling, Zaromskis has the ability to use his punches to disguise the head kicks he often throws behind them. A sufficiently adrenaline-drunk Diaz will go Rocky Balboa on anyone, but Rocky never had to worry about Clubber Lang sneaking in a high kick.
Grappling remains the great equalizer in this fight, as Diaz’s underrated ground-and-pound has proven just as effective as his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Zaromskis relies mostly on using half guard and butterfly guard to create scrambles and escape back to the feet. However, Diaz has not used his grappling consistently for some time, and, as the world saw in Zaromskis’ bout with Jason High at Dream 10, obliging Lithuania’s top Akuma fan for even a few moments serves as a one-way ticket to the canvas.
The X-Factor: Diaz has proven tough enough to get dinged on the feet a few times before eventually taking down Zaromskis and performing some surgical work. Though most assume Diaz can ground Zaromskis whenever he pleases, the recent improvements in Zaromskis’ takedown defense could contradict such assumptions.
Like all great strikers, Zaromskis understands how to use range to his advantage and manipulate opponents into thinking they have to strike with him. It does not take a PhD in kickboxing to goad Diaz into a brawl, and given his recent success going blow-for-blow, Diaz may be ripe for the kicking.
* * *
The Bottom Line: Diaz paid a heavy price for his Mickey Ward impersonation against Karl James Noons, and he has not made any discernible improvements in his technique since then. Some entertaining exchanges will pave the road for Diaz’s own doom, as Zaromskis continues his head kick KO tour by flattening the Stockton, Calif., native late in the first round.
The most intriguing and perhaps most important bit of business features Nick Diaz going against Lithuanian head kick connoisseur Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. Backing up that quality violence, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos makes the first defense of her women’s middleweight championship, while Robbie Lawler and Melvin Manhoef lock horns in a full-scale recreation of “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.”
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Strikeforce Welterweight Championship
Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis
The Breakdown: The stateside debut of
Zaromskis, Dream’s premier headhunter, coincides with Diaz’s return
to the welterweight division after an extended run at 185 pounds.
During that run, Diaz often relied on his rangy punch-and-judy
boxing style to stymie knockout-minded opponents, but Zaromskis
seems like a different breed of beast.
The most glaring flaw in Diaz’s striking remains his poor movement, which will leave him vulnerable against Zaromskis, who almost always attacks at an angle. Just as troubling, Zaromskis has the ability to use his punches to disguise the head kicks he often throws behind them. A sufficiently adrenaline-drunk Diaz will go Rocky Balboa on anyone, but Rocky never had to worry about Clubber Lang sneaking in a high kick.
Grappling remains the great equalizer in this fight, as Diaz’s underrated ground-and-pound has proven just as effective as his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Zaromskis relies mostly on using half guard and butterfly guard to create scrambles and escape back to the feet. However, Diaz has not used his grappling consistently for some time, and, as the world saw in Zaromskis’ bout with Jason High at Dream 10, obliging Lithuania’s top Akuma fan for even a few moments serves as a one-way ticket to the canvas.
The X-Factor: Diaz has proven tough enough to get dinged on the feet a few times before eventually taking down Zaromskis and performing some surgical work. Though most assume Diaz can ground Zaromskis whenever he pleases, the recent improvements in Zaromskis’ takedown defense could contradict such assumptions.
Like all great strikers, Zaromskis understands how to use range to his advantage and manipulate opponents into thinking they have to strike with him. It does not take a PhD in kickboxing to goad Diaz into a brawl, and given his recent success going blow-for-blow, Diaz may be ripe for the kicking.
The Bottom Line: Diaz paid a heavy price for his Mickey Ward impersonation against Karl James Noons, and he has not made any discernible improvements in his technique since then. Some entertaining exchanges will pave the road for Diaz’s own doom, as Zaromskis continues his head kick KO tour by flattening the Stockton, Calif., native late in the first round.
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