The Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley event this weekend will take place in San Diego, California, and the event looks pretty good on paper. However, the main event between Nick Diaz and Paul Daley is pretty much a mismatch, in my opinion. Hopefully, Daley will be able to make weight since he has missed the welterweight limit three times in the past year. He has to make 170 pounds, not 171, because this is a title fight.
Paul Daley brings a career record of (27-9) with 20 wins via TKO/KO. He has won four in a row since losing to Josh Kosheck and being ousted from the UFC for throwing a punch after the final bell out of frustration. Daley is a knockout artist and very confident in his power, which consists primarily of a left hook. He is very one dimensional in his game; his skills on the ground simply involve surviving once it hits the mat with someone well versed in submissions.
Nick Diaz brings a career record of (24-7) with 12 wins via TKO/KO and 8 wins via submission. He hasn’t lost a fight since late 2007 to K.J. Noons, a loss he avenged last October. Diaz has won 9 fights in a row. Diaz is a well-rounded fighter, rangy with good power that has developed over the years, very good submission skills, and a granite chin. If Diaz has a weakness, it’s his take-down defense, but he will not have to worry about that in this fight as Daley will want to stand.
Linesmaker has Diaz as the betting favorite at (-220) and Daley as the underdog at (+180).
Daley will want to keep this fight standing at all cost. His only chance at winning is by knocking Diaz out, which has never really been done before (Jeremy Jackson picked up a TKO over Diaz in 2002). As mentioned, Diaz has an incredible chin and has taken shots from heavy-handed strikers before. The problem for Daley will be the work rate of Diaz, as he’ll be able to pepper Daley with strikes all night long while Daley will be looking for the one punch knockout. If this fight hits the ground, Daley has absolutely no shot, as he has been submitted in five of his nine career losses and Diaz is top-notch on the ground.
I don’t even think this fight is going to be close unless Daley can somehow get Diaz to take this fight personal with trash talk at the weigh-in’s or something. There has been very little trash talk between the fighters up to this point, which is surprising considering both can do it well when they choose to do so. Diaz does tend to fight with emotion at times, so he may fall into a slug-fest with Daley. However, Diaz’s ability to absorb punches should help him persevere if that happens.
I don’t think Diaz will be able to take Daley down easily. Wrestling isn’t his strong suit and Daley’s take-down defense is adequate, unless he is facing a wrestler on Koscheck’s level. Daley has never been knocked out, and Diaz probably doesn’t have the power to do it. So I see Diaz outclassing Daley on the feet with his length and combinations while Daley tries to land that big left hook.
Nick Diaz should win this fight unanimously.
something tells me Diaz will try to prove a point and stand toe to toe with Daley. he likes to beat guys at their own game no matter what the cost and that’s what makes him one of the greatest ever.
He’ll do exactly that…Daley will fade as the fight goes on.
“So I see Diaz outclassing Daley on the feet with his length and combinations while Daley tries to land that big left hook.”
^Umm…I think I pretty much nailed it…that is all.
Shut em down, shut em shut em down.
To be fair, Daley did plant Diaz on his face with a left hook, so that might not be “outclassing,” but he certainly got the better of the striking. Also he did not really use his reach, he caught Daley against the cage and did damage with body shots.