Evangelista Cyborg Santos Puts up Valiant Fight Against Nick Diaz

Last Updated on Saturday, 29 January 2011 23:56 Saturday, 29 January 2011 23:35

Written by Dave Walsh

Nick Diaz is a polarizing character in the MMA world, he is brash, disrespectful and he is very talented. Tonight he successfully defended his Strikeforce Welterweight Championship against Chute Boxe's Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. Mr. Cyborg was coming into this fight off of a two-fight win streak, with a win over Marius Zaromskis in Strikeforce and Paul Daley's uncertain future setting this fight up for him. Mrs. Cyborg was in the audience to support her husband and the storyline going into this fight was Cyborg had really turned his career around and improved vastly.

The first round was an incredible brawl, with Cyborg's technique dominating early in the round. Cyborg worked a brilliant game plan early on, working the leg kicks and following up with some crisp punches. With Diaz reeling most of the early parts of the round, a right hand from Diaz and a flurry was able to change the atmosphere of the fight. It turned into an all-out brawl afterwards and Cyborg looked as if he was slowing down.

The second round saw neither man looking to give an inch. Cyborg's game plan began to fall apart as he simply started looking to take Diaz's head off. As soon as he stopped working the leg kick the fight began to slip from his grasp. Diaz was starting to take advantage of this and was hurting Cyborg standing up, forcing Cyborg to take Diaz down. This proved to be a mistake, though, as Diaz slipped on an armbar to secure the win.

The night also saw Robbie Lawler put up a good fight against Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza until it went to the ground, with Jacare choking Lawler out, disproving the "Beard Theory." Herschel Walker remains undefeated against hand-picked opponents in Strikeforce, which they'll note over and over again. Roger Gracie showed a well-rounded game, but finished with his grappling against Trevor Prangley.

Share this story