Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz Re-Signs With Strikeforce

Added on Dec 28, 2010 by Brian Blake in

UFC & MMA

Things have gone pretty well, to say the least, for the Stockton based mixed martial artist, Nick Diaz. The no-nonsense fighter has gone undefeated in his last eight bouts dating back to May of 2008. Outside of the ring his hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed as his promoters in Strikeforce and Diaz recently reached an agreement for the current welterweight king to remain with the San Jose based company for many years to come.

His last loss came against KJ Noons back in November of 2007 where Diaz was stopped at the end of the first round on cuts. Since then he’s rebounded impressively beginning with his return bout when he traveled to Japan to force the corner of his opponent Kaysuya Inoue to throw in the towel in the very first round.

Upon returning to the Unites States as well as the Elite XC banner, Diaz punched his way to a TKO victory with just a tick under the four minute mark in the third round of their middleweight bout. Diaz, however, weighed in over nine pounds over the limit coming in much closer to that of a welterweight.

Thomas Denny didn’t fare as well in Diaz’ next bout as Denny only lasted 30 seconds into the second round before Diaz earned his second TKO win marking the end of his Elite XC run and ultimately ushering in his reign of terror within the Strikeforce organization.

In front of over 14,00 fans at the HP Pavilion, Diaz took on local hero Frank Shamrock in a cross roads fight. The 180 lb. catchweight fight lasted less than two full rounds as Diaz utilized his striking ability to stop Shamrock midway through the second round.

Just two months later, Diaz packed his bags and headed to St. Louis where he snapped his current streak of TKO stoppages as he submitted the heavy handed Scott Smith with the win ultimately leading to an opportunity for Diaz to taste Strikeforce gold in the welterweight division.

Diaz and Marius Žaromskis battled for just 1:48 for the honor of becoming the first ever Strikeforce Welterweight Champion with Diaz having his hand raised in victory after his first round TKO win.

To date, Diaz had make two successful defenses of his Middleweight Championship. Most recently he put his strap on the line in a highly anticipated rematch where KJ Noons moved up in weight in order to make the fight happen. After five hard fought rounds Diaz claimed victory by using his superior striking and size advantage.

Next up is another stop at the HP Pavilion where he has produces a strong local following as Diaz prepares to take on the hard hitting but inconsistent Evangelista Santos.

Obviously Diaz is looking to walk away from the cage with a win, but win or lose, Diaz can go back to Stockton knowing that his future within the Strikeforce promotional banner is well secure.

“I’m looking forward to continuing my career with Strikeforce,” said the dynamic 27-year-old Diaz, a protégé of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Cesar Gracie and resident of Stockton, Calif. “When I first got here, there weren’t a lot of great 170 pound fighters for me to fight, but that’s definitely changed. There’s a lot of really good fighters in the division now and I’m ready to fight anyone who thinks they can beat me.”