Full audio from todays Strikeforce Press call. Check out thefightnerd.com after for more MMA news and original videos!
From Strikeforce: Superstar Nick Diaz, DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis, STRIKEFORCE 145 pound Women’s Champion Cris Cyborg, and submission expert Marloes Coenen discussed the upcoming STRIKEFORCE MIAMI mixed martial arts (MMA) fights scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 30 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., LIVE on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).
The 26-year-old Diaz (20-7), a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and native of Stockton, Calif, will take on DREAM welterweight (170 pounds) champ Zaromskis (13-3) in the main event and first STRIKEFORCE welterweight championship bout in history. Diaz, who will put a five fight win streak on the line, is making his first start since he submitted hard-hitting Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith on June 6, 2009. The highly explosive, 29-year-old Zaromskis, who hails from Siauliai, Lithuania, has won his last three fights on first-round knockouts via head kick.
STRIKEFORCE 145-pound women’s champion Cyborg (8-1) will defend her crown against submission expert Coenen (17-3). Cyborg made history on Aug. 15, 2009 when the 24-year-old native of Brazil stopped superstar Gina Carano with a punishing barrage of strikes in the first round of their meeting to become the first-ever STRIKEFORCE women’s champion. The long-awaited showdown between Carano and Cyborg also marked the first women’s main event in the history of any major MMA promotion. The 28-year-old Coenen, a member of Holland’s Team Golden Glory and mixed martial artist since the age of 14, made a successful STRIKEFORCE debut and avenged one of her three career defeats by overpowering and submitting Roxanne Modafferi with an armbar in the first round (1:05) on November 7, 2009.
Also on the STRIKEFORCE: MIAMI card, football legend Herschel Walker will make his professional MMA debut as he begins the next stage of his athletic career against once beaten Greg Nagy. Undefeated heavyweight Bobby Lashley (4-0) will face an opponent to be announced.